Twenty seconds into the game, and Xavi was already made to pay for the decision to drop his pivot.
Gavi and Ilkay Gundogan have logged big minutes this season, and looked like they needed a rest. But given the injuries to key players, they had to play, but would have been better off with the cover of Oriol Romeu.
It wasn’t an easy job that Xavi had going into this one. But the prudent move may have been to prioritize defensive and structural stability.
That’s where Romeu makes sense. He isn’t exciting, but he knows the position, and he’s reliable on both sides of the ball.