Marc Casadó squad omission is an example of the new Barça policy

For the players, it is certainly not the best news to be left out of FC Barcelona's first-team squad. All the canteranos have the dream of being with the first team and even if they have to sit on the bench, they are happy.

But for the management between the first Barcelona team and the reserve team, Barça Atlètic, it is not the most recommendable situation that, in the end, they don't play any minutes.

It happened last season and on more than one occasion. For example, and although it was a special case with many nuances, with Pablo Torre. With hardly any minutes in the first team, but neither with the reserve team, the way in which everything was handled with the player now on loan at Girona made very little sense.

The relationship between Barça's first team coach, Xavi Hernández, and the B team coach, Rafa Márquez, is excellent. Last year, Barça Atlètic managed, with much merit, to qualify for the play-off for promotion to Segunda A, but could not put the icing on the cake.

Squad selection

This year, the situation of these players 'straddling' between Barça 'big' and the second team has been studied and some effects are already beginning to be seen.

For example, not calling up these players for the sake of calling them up if they are not going to have minutes. Marc Casadó, the captain of Barça Atlètic and an indisputable player for Rafa Márquez, started to be included in Xavi's call-ups, five in a row in the first five days of the league, but against Sevilla it will be the third consecutive game in the championship in which the player from Sant Pere de Vilamajor will not be present.

Neither he nor any of his teammates from the reserve team. Only the third goalkeeper Ander Astralaga -- Xavi, whenever he can, calls up three goalkeepers -- as well as Lamine Yamal and Fermín, who can occasionally help Rafa Márquez's team, but who are fully part of the first team.

Xavi's plans

That doesn't mean that Xavi doesn't count on Casadó or other players from the reserve team. Quite the contrary. What happens is that it is more important for Márquez to have more of his best players at his disposal if it is foreseen that they are not going to play for the first team. 

Xavi has 'adjusted' the squads to the point that against Sevilla he only called up 20 players. And Casadó, meanwhile, is training with Rafa Márquez to lead the team in Sunday's important game (17.00) against Celta Fortuna at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, without losing the illusion of succeeding in the first team. When it has to come, it will come.