Valverde has "no qualms saying that La Liga is a priority for" Barça
Barça rotated in the Copa but will pick a strong side at Girona this weekend
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde admitted that La Liga is "a priority" after recalling Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets for Sunday's game at Girona.
Messi and Busquets were both left out of the squad for the Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg at Sevilla in midweek, while Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba were both substitutes.
However, Valverde is set to pick his strongest side for this weekend's Catalan derby, which led to the suggestion he's prioritising the league over the cup, which Barça have won in each of the last four seasons.
"Sunday's game what counts, that's what we are prioritising at the moment," he said in a press conference when asked if the Girona game would be bigger than the comeback attempt against Sevilla on Wednesday.
"After that, we will see what happens. There's a lot of talk about rotations, but mainly when you lose. Last year, we made changes against Celta and Espanyol [in the Copa] but they only spoke of them when we lost at 1-0 at Espanyol.
"The midfield against Sevilla was the same as the one against Getafe in La Liga. The defence was a strong defence. We made some changes in attack. But it is similar to what we did last year and we ended up winning the cup.
"The result was bad against Sevilla, but we will try and comeback. But I have no qualms saying that La Liga is a priority for us."
