Barcelona Team News vs Getafe: Paulinho in line for first start as Valverde hints at rotation

Ernesto Valverde has hinted at the possibility of some rotational changes to the lineup as Barcelona travel to face Getafe in La Liga.

Barcelona have started the campaign well, with maximum points to show after 3 games so far in La Liga. And after a successful outing against Juventus, Ernesto Valverde has his eyes locked at the task at hand, getting the maximum points from their trip to Getafe on Saturday.

And the Barcelona boss refused to give away anything while hinting at potential changes down to rotation in order to keep all the players from being fatigued. Ernesto Valverde attended the pre-match conference and highlighted that there may be some changes in order on Saturday.

“Whether or not players are playing well it doesn’t make a difference, if there has to be a change there will be one.”

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— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 15, 2017

The manager was asked as to whether either of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez would be rotated or rested over the weekend and the new boss refused to give anything away while highlighting that decisions like these are why managers are important.

“We’ll see, I don’t know what to say. That’s the reason why the coach is there.”

Valverde has named the same eighteen-man squad from the midweek tie for the Getafe match. While Rafinha, Lucas Digne, Thomas Vermaelen continue to be sidelined with their respective injuries, Arda Turan and Paco Alcacer, who were touted to return, have not been included in the traveling squad.

Andres Iniesta starred in the tie against Juventus. However, the little magician is 33 now and needs to be properly managed, which might see Valverde rest the player in favour of Paulinho, who could be due his first start in a Barcelona shirt over the weekend.

Barcelona have an imperious record against Getafe in recent times and Valverde would hope to keep the trend going. Lionel Messi is in the form of his life and seems to have reformed himself in the false nine role. It would be interesting to see if we get to witness another Barcelona masterclass at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez.