Santander League: Umtiti Survivor | LaLiga Santander 2019

The French central, despite its low fitness, Setin's confidence is won by surprise

If there is a player who has noticed the change in the bench of the Bara, it is Samuel Umtiti. Although Quique Setin insists on ensuring that both he and his compatriot Clment Lenglet They start with the same options and that only the details lead him to decide for one or the other, the truth is that the former player of the Lyon Olympique is counting on many more minutes in The league than the former sevillista. And that proves to be still far from its best version. With Setin he has participated in six of seven league games (five starts). Lenglet, only in three.

The Real Madrid's 2-0 play in the Bernabu it will be a very good example. Mariano not only won his back, but was also able to take a great advantage in the race to stand alone against Ter Stegen and seal the Barcelona defeat. The Frenchman, who is still on a card of the suspension for accumulation of reprimands, did not even look for a foul that would have caused him to miss a match, either to see the fifth yellow or to be ejected with direct red, but that would have allowed Your team will have a timid hope of taking at least one point.

With Ernesto Valverde, Umtiti only got to participate in five of 19 League games, yes, seven of them missed them for injury. His physical problems have long been an ordeal for the French. Last season, for example, he was absent in 16 First Division appointments because of a left knee that has bothered him since before the 2018 World Cup. The defense did not want to operate then so as not to miss a compromise in which France managed to raise its second scepter, but its decision has meant a path of thorns that seems to have no end. And, although from the club it is considered that the operating room is the only possibility to forget once and for all of these problems, the player doesn't even want to talk about it.

The physical state of Umtiti allowed Clment Lenglet, which landed at Camp Nou in the summer of 2018, to become a basic piece for Valverde. In his first campaign as a Barcelona player, he played 23 League games of 38 possible. The central from Sevilla maintained the favor of the former Barca coach at the start of this campaign and played 15 of the first 19 league games, of which one was lost due to a penalty and the other due to injury. The arrival on the bench of Quique Setin, on the other hand, meant for him a completely unexpected turnaround.

They are two players who, within the similar characteristics they have, also pose differences in some aspects and that is what I cousin in each game. Now Umtiti has had more prominence, but I am delighted with Lenglet. He will play a lot and has very good characteristics. I don't mean more for one or the other. I don't think one is vastly superior to the other. So far I have decided to do so, but tomorrow I can opt for something else, Setin said, without clarifying much, during the press conference prior to today's match against Real society.

A meeting for which I can not count on Arthur. The midfielder drags discomfort in the ankle and undergo a treatment with growth factors along with the medical team of Dr. Ramn Cugat for an indeterminate time. At first have a pain, some discomfort, he has started a treatment and you have to be very aware of how it evolves. It is not known. You have to see the evolution. I can not say more, the Barca coach pointed out with some resignation.

Arthur's leave could give the young man Riqui Puig the option to enter today in the eleven holder. For now, the midfielder returned to a list of summoned in which he did not enter since the confrontation against Betis in Benito Villamarn. His playing style bears many similarities with the former player of the Porto Alegre Guild. However, the precedents invite us to think that Rakitic finally be the commitment of Setin to complete the core of Barcelona.