Barcelona 2-2 Girona: 5 Talking Points, LaLiga 2018/19

#3 Should Valverde have brought on Umtiti immediately after the red card?

Valverde's decision to hold off Umtiti will be questioned heavily

Lenglet was sent off in the 35th minute, and Valverde had an option to bring on Samuel Umtiti with ten minutes still to play before half-time. But Umtiti had not warmed up and Valverde chose to persist with Busquets filling in at center-back till half-time.

That decision proved to be an ill-fated one, as Stuani scored before half-time due to some sloppy positioning from, you guessed it, Busquets. One can argue quite sensibly that if Umtiti were on the pitch then Barca won't have conceded the goal.

But concede they did, and it allowed Girona a route back into the game. Many fans thought that Valverde messed up the substitution, but his reason for doing so is valid, a goal conceded or not.