Barcelona: Setién facing crisis with Umtiti and Piqué struggling

Quique Setién continues to see his problems mount given how short his squad is. He only has 16 first team players to call upon and any suspension or injury sets off the crisis alarm. Barcelona play Getafe, the in-form team in LaLiga, next Saturday and the manager has just two central defenders available after Clement Lenglet was sent off late on Sunday night against Betis. 

Piqué missed the game against Betis due to suspension but he was subbed off against Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday with discomfort in his right abductor. He is not 100% yet and trained away from the group on Monday. There have been assurances made that he will train fully by Thursday and be ready to play on Saturday with no ill-effects of that injury.

Umtiti continues to show signs of struggle

More worrying, however, is the case of Samuel Umtiti. The French central defender is not in good nick. He looked slow and under pressure for a player of his level. The 26-year-old is showing signs that the decision not to operate on his knee after the World Cup in 2018 was the wrong one. He did not train on Monday either and was forced to remain in the dressing room where he was received treatment on that troublesome knee. 

Setién will be forced into calling up someone from the B team to fill the gap. Rolando Araújo will be the man chosen. The central defender, who has been training with the first team, is in good condition physically but does not seem to have convinced Setién fully yet. He preferred Busquets at centre-back when Lenglet was sent off. Setién eventually did make a change but it was Rakitic for Griezmann at the end of the game.