One of the most gigantic challenges for Setién in the last eleven days of the League will be how to manage Messi. Nobody knows his body better than Leo and the Argentine, who is originally about to play in Mallorca, will be guided by his own feelings. But The Cantabrian will have to choose the moments to dose the most veteran players of his squad in a calendar that will not give up. Eleven days in five weeks is an extra effort, especially if you notice that the bodies have been without competition for three months. “You have to know the needs we have, the circumstances that arise, and that we do not have a long squad. But I prefer to have Messi always on the field, then we will see what is happening,” Setien said this Sunday on Movistar.
Setién, however, knows that he has an ace up his sleeve. Messi, like so many other things, is also the best substitute in LaLiga. No active player has scored more goals than him leaving from the bench. As many as 24, a spectacular brand for someone who always wants to be on the field. Only Julio Salinas (28) and Óscar de Paula (27) have scored more goals as a substitute). For example, last year Messi won three games in the last half hour. At home, against Leganés (3-1), when the cucumbers had tied with a goal from Brathwaite. Outside, against Villarreal, in a spectacular outburst from Barça that ended with 4-4. And, finally, leaving the day of Levante to give LaLiga to Barça with a goal in a nervous game that only resolved his mettle against Aitor. Messi is also a bomb of mass destruction from the bench.
It is true that the Argentine likes to play always and every game. In fact, this season in the League, when he was fit to play, he only stayed on the bench in the game against Granada and was only substituted in one game for discomfort (Vllarreal). In the rest of the games, he played the ninety minutes. But Messi has also learned to dose his body over the years and to read the games, the calendars and know how it can be more profitable for the team. The three buttons from last year are the best example that you can also be decisive entering the last half hour. And that detail seems decisive so that Setién can manage his minutes in the last eleven games without that means that he must necessarily give it up. Just manage it and optimize its performance.