Valverde is studying the possibility of giving rest to his most important players for the trip to Villarreal on Tuesday and that would mean lots of new faces in the starting XI. Barca, after beating Espanyol in the Barcelona derby thanks to two goals from Leo Messi, will play another league game after just three days, just like the rest of the teams because of the midweek round of fixtures.
A more than sufficient reason for Ernesto Valverde, aware that his team have a ten point cushion over Atletico in second, to rest men like Leo Messi and Luis Suarez for future games both in the league and in the Champions League.
In just ten days, the Catalans have a tough game in Manchester in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, a tie against Manchester United, in which they will look to take a lead back home for the second leg. Obviously, Valverde will want his big guns at full strength for this fixture. He will field a full strength team in England with the aim of getting a vital victory at Old Trafford and therefore, reserving his top players against Villarreal is a must.
Without going further back, the Argentine striker has played 23 of Barca's 26 games since December 2018 and he has played every possible game since the draw at San Mames against Athletic Bilbao back on 6th February. To make things worse, just before the first leg against Man Utd, Barcelona host Atletico Madrid in the league in a match they will want to win given that three points will kill off any faint hopes of an Atletico title charge.
Therefore, not only Messi could be given a more than deserved break against the 'Yellow Submarine'. Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic, amongst others could be on the bench for the game at Estadio La Ceramica. They may not even be in the 18 man squad.