Ernesto Valverde explains why he waited to make changes against Valencia

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde tried to explain why he took so long to many changes during Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Valencia at Mestalla.

Valencia were forced into an early change when Goncalo Guedes came off injured after 12 minutes. Marcelino then brought on Rodrigo with 20 minutes to go and then Francis Coquelin.

Both teams were in Champions League action in midweek, but Valverde only made two changes and he spoke about the substitutions after the match.

“I left the changes for the end because I did not see it clearly,” he said.

“I thought that we could resolve the situation with the players we had on the pitch.”

Valverde’s first change came in the 84th minute, when Ousmane Dembele replaced Philippe Coutinho.

Rafinha arrived shortly afterwards for Arthur, but neither player could conjure up a winning goal in the limited time they had on the pitch.