Learning from Paris Saint-Germain: former Atletico Madrid star criticises Flick's approach with Barcelona

Barcelona are back to winning ways. A crushing 6-1 rout of Deportivo Alavés at the Camp Nou last Saturday wiped away the memory of back-to-back defeats to Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, with the Catalans excelling in every department.

This tenth win sparked plenty of debate, much of it centred on how Hansi Flick is managing players like Rodri Hernández, Gavi and Alejandro Balde.

Take the former Manchester City man, who played the full match. Gavi, meanwhile, did not feature at all. It was a striking call in a week stacked with fixtures, with Barcelona set to face Aston Villa before meeting Atlético Madrid at the weekend.

Against Paris Saint-Germain, the German coach opted to rest Rodri. The decision went down badly with a large chunk of the Catalan support.

Flick's handling of the Blaugrana squad became the main talking point on a sports show on the "Movistar Plus" platform, where former Atlético Madrid man Mario Suárez gave his take.

Suárez said, as reported by the newspaper "Sport": "For example, I don't understand why Rodri plays the full 90 minutes against Alavés, while he doesn't feature as much against Paris Saint-Germain, and then we see him getting a rest now, in the matches against Villarreal and Atlético Madrid".

He went on: "I have noticed that Pedri and Rodri are approaching the 1,000-minute mark of playing time, while Lamine has gone well beyond that figure. When you play more than five matches in which you are leading by two or three goals, you can take the opportunity to rest your players".

For Suárez, rest is non-negotiable, especially once a game is already won. "Ultimately, when a player reaches April or May having played 500 or 600 fewer minutes, that makes a tangible difference", he said.

Rounding off his remarks, he added: "This effect appears clearly when facing a team like Paris Saint-Germain, which works to manage the playing minutes of its players throughout the French league competitions, to ensure its key stars reach their peak readiness".