Celta Vigo boss Claudio Giraldez rather bizarrely complained about Barcelona’s last-minute change to their starting XI after Marc Casado dropped out ahead of kick-off.
The midfielder has reportedly suffered an adductor strain and is due to undergo tests on Monday, with Hansi Flick replacing him with Dani Olmo.
Giraldez was asked about the incident after the game and revealed why he wasn’t happy about it.
“I don’t think it’s quite right when you go onto the pitch with eleven players, with a plan for eleven players, with a pre-match talk with eleven players, with a post-warm-up talk with eleven players, and then suddenly someone else comes along and changes things significantly,” he told reporters.
“It’s different if Casadó plays than if Olmo plays. I’m not saying they did it with bad intentions, but it seems strange to me that it doesn’t count as a substitution and then, on top of that, Casadó can play in the second half if they decide to. It’s a bit odd from a rules standpoint.”
It’s a strange complaint to make about a situation that happens from time-to-time when players pick up knocks in the warm-up. Barca clearly didn’t want to risk Casado after he admitted to feeling some discomfort and made the right call.
