Rakitic & Andre Gomes: the favourites to fill in for Busquets
Luis Enrique will have to find a formula to replace a player with no obvious substitute
The injury to Sergio Busquets in Barcelona’s win over Eibar at the weekend has opened up the debate about who Luis Enrique will replace him with.
While Barça have a wealth of midfielders, few are as fine tuned to Busquets’ role as the player is himself. The best placed to fill in during the coming games are Ivan Rakitic and Andre Gomes.
In fact, the Croatian and the Portuguese are the only two players, in the current campaign, who have occupied Busquets’ place when Luis Enrique has given him a rest.
Other alternatives include Javier Mascherano and Sergi Roberto, although both are preferred in defence.
RAKITIC
Ivan Rakitic has shown he can play the position. He did so against Leganes when Barça played with a back four. And he also did so against Granada from the start, as well as taking Busquets’ place on Sunday when he went off injured.
GOMES
The former Valencia man played in the pivot role against Bourssia Monchengladvach in the Champions League and again against Hercules in the Copa del Rey.
Another player to play in the position this season is Alex Carbonell. The Barça B midfielder did well in the first leg of the Copa del Rey tie there against Hercules at the end of November.
