Ernesto Valverde knows what his best Barcelona lineup is....
Only 11 players have played more than 50 percent of minutes this season
Ter Stegen and Messi are the only two players to have played every minute
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has never hidden that he would feel more comfortable with a smaller squad. He said it himself when he joined Barça and he's said it at every team he's coached in the past.
At the moment he has 24 players, although he's still not used four of them: Rafinha (injured), Cillessen (second choice goalkeeper) and Arda Turan and Vermaelen (who he doesn't fancy).
Of the 20 that have played, only 11 have played at least 50 percent of the possible minutes. In other words, he has his starting lineup very clear, although the injury to Ousmane Dembele skews things a little.
REGULARS
The minutes speak for themselves. Two players are untouchable for Valverde: Marc-Andre ter Stegen between the posts and Lionel Messi, be it as a false nine, a right winger or any other position on the pitch.
Ter Stegen and Messi have played it all: all 1,080 possible minutes (180 in the Super Cup, 180 in the Champions League and 720 in La Liga). Jordi Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Umtiti, Piqué, Luis Suárez, Sergi Roberto, Iniesta and Semedo are the other nine players that have accumulated more than half of the possible minutes this season.
Another nine have played less than 50 percent, although Deulofeu and Mascherano have featured more than most. The rest have not even played 30 percent of the available minutes.
Here is how FC Barcelona's minutes have been shared in 2017-18:
El reparto de minutos FCB 2017-18Infogram
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