Without a doubt, it would appear that FC Barcelona has seen their season come to a premature end. While they still need to fight for second place in La Liga, La Blaugrana do not have any aspirations beyond that. For fans of Barcelona, this season has managed to deliver nothing but heartbreak for them yet again.
La Liga is no longer a reachable objective, with Real Madrid now being 11 points ahead of them. The Copa Del Ray and Spanish Super Cup are also lost as well, and the UEFA Champions League run for Barcelona met its end at the hands of French side Paris Saint-Germain.
Yet, instead of simply letting this season go by and thinking of it as a waste of time, Barcelona can still use the remaining matches in a productive way. Here at Barca News Network, we believe that the most effective use of these remaining games would be to finally test out the less regular starlets in the team.
While this can include the likes of Hector Fort, Marc Guiu, or even Marc Casado, one name that definitely deserves more chances is Vitor Roque. The Brazilian youngster, despite being given barely any attention or opportunities this season, has managed to showcase ample amounts of quality and desire in the few cameos that he has made.
In total, thus far this season, the 19-year-old forward has played 310 minutes across the two competitions that he has featured in. With 11 appearances in La Liga and 2 in the Copa Del Ray, normally one would expect a lot more minutes to have been given to the young South American striker at Barcelona.
He has also managed to score twice in those fleeting minutes that he has been given, despite the fact that this is his first-ever season of European football. Roque has shown promise, and a lot of it, despite not being given the adequate opportunity to showcase it properly.
For this reason, the upcoming matches present a perfect opportunity for Xavi Hernandez to rely on him a bit more. With Robert Lewandowski also failing to be up to the mark on a consistent basis, players such as Roque might just do well to get those additional minutes that they so desperately crave.
If Barcelona are truly willing to count on Roque for the future, they must showcase their commitment to him. A transfer from the Brazilian league over to Spain is hardly an easy switch of scenery, but the 19-year-old helped with it to achieve his dream of playing for Barcelona. It is now Xavi’s turn to reciprocate that dedication from his young striker.
