The strange disappearance of Ansu Fati at FC Barcelona

The strange disappearance of Ansu Fati at FC Barcelona

Ansu Fati fue el protagonista ante el Leganés al abrir el marcador
Ansu Fati fue el protagonista ante el Leganés al abrir el marcador | sport

The Barça winger has been largely ignored after an impressive performance against Leganes

It is hard to understand why Ansu Fati has seemingly been overlooked ever since his fine performance against Leganes. He scored the opener in the club's first home match of the season (since the restart) but got zero minutes against Sevilla. This despite the team being in desperate need of a goal. 

Quique Setien instead preferred to bring on Arthur Melo, Riqui Puig and Antoine Griezmann. The coach didn't even use his allotted five substitutes in the match against Sevilla. Fati warmed up down the touchline but wasn't needed, or wanted. Something which has happened in three of Barça's last nine matches. 

doubts

There's a growing feeling that Quique Setien isn't totally convinced by Ansu, despite his undoubted potential, and doesn't want to rush his involvement in the first team. Yet even if that is the case, it is strange that he wouldn't get at least a cameo appearance from the bench to attack tired legs. He showed his ability in front of goal against Leganes and plays without fear, something defenders hate to come up against. 

Fati has only played in one of the last three matches and, across the last nine, his playing time continues to decrease. He's started two of them (Leganes and Getafe) at the Camp Nou, on four occasions was an unused substitute (Sevilla, Mallorca, Eibar and Betis) and in the three others didn't get more than 10 minutes off the bench (Real Sociedad 6', Real Madrid 10’ and Napoli 4’).

Martin Braithwaite appears ahead of Fati in the pecking order despite the youngster getting five goals and an assist in 17 LaLiga fixtures this season. He's also off the mark in the Champions League. On Tuesday night, Barça take on Athletic Club and Ansu will be hoping to get another chance to impress the manager.

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