Confidential: What Marc Bartra thinks of his Barça situation

Confidential: What Marc Bartra thinks of his Barça situation

He did not play one minute against Las Palmas despite the fact Gerard Pique wasn’t even in the squad. Luis Enrique preferred to bet on two left-sided central defenders than to use Marc Bartra. It’s another decision which demonstrates that he’s not playing an important in the team. And the latest decision which proves that came on Sunday, when he wasn’t even named in the squad for the Arsenal game. 

1. The club vetoed his exit in January 

Bartra did not ask for the club to facilitate his exit in January. One of his options was Sevilla, who wanted him on loan. Despite the fact that chances to leave have been constant since he reached Barça’s first team, he continues to chase his dream at the club. This season he’s changed agents - swapping Magico Diaz for Carles Puyol and Ivan De La Pena, both of whom are friends with Luis Enrique. That change wasn’t because he wanted to leave, though, which was the logical conclusion. What Bartra does not understand is why Luis Enrique didn’t want him to leave, but why he doesn’t seem to want him to play, either. 

2. The first big disappointment 

Despite hardly featuring for Barcelona, Del Bosque has shown a lot of faith in the defender. In fact, he started the friendly against England in November, but he suffered his first big disappointment of the season a few days later when he was left out of the Clasico squad. He published a tweet saying he was excited to face Real Madrid, but deleted it when he was not named in the match day squad. That was a difficult blow to take. 

3. Luis Enrique’s words 

The Barcelona boss spoke about Bartra in January to shut down a potential transfer. That day he said that the defender “can improve his level” and that he has “other team-mates ahead of him”, but also said he was happy his attitude. While it was seen as a touch of attention by the majority of the public, Bartra saw things differently. He saw it as encouragement to keep fighting, which he has done, but he has not seen results. 

4. The telling off against Valencia

His last game as a starter, one of nine this season, was earlier in February against Valencia in the Copa del Rey. During the game, he received one of the biggest telling offs Luis Enrique has ever been seen giving. It was in the 27th minute and after not reading a situation well, Enrique launched a tirade against the centre back. The feeling Bartra has is that his errors are magnified much more than those of his team-mates in the same position. 

5. Support from his team-mates

As well as those close to him, there are players inside the dressing room who don’t think what Bartra is going through is normal. Episodes like in Malaga, when Sergi Roberto came on for the injured Adriano rather than Jeremy Mathieu shifting to left-back to allow Bartra to come on, have not seemed normal. Nor did it seem normal when Luis Enrique lined up with two left-sided central defenders at Las Palmas. It was difficult to understand.