Valverde: I want the first team to play together in the pre-season Barcelona vs Roma Not impressed with youths

After his side's late defeat to Roma, Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde, noted that he wants to have his first choice players together as much as possible in pre-season.

In both games of their US tour so far, the Catalans have collapsed once the B team players have been brought on.

"We played a good game except for the final part," Valverde said to reporters at his post-match press conference.

"For 75 minutes we dominated, and I wanted certain players to play more minutes.

"At 3-1, we were a little bit overawed and it's normal what happened because they had a more experienced team.

"Overall I'm happy even with that."

For some while now, Barcelona have been criticised for not bringing through enough young players, and Valverde had to answer those concerns.

"This is football, really," he continued.

"We have been accused of these failures, but we risked the youngsters to face these situations and they'll learn from this.

"The first team are always together and understand each other."

Both Malcom and Rafinha were excellent, as were the team in the opening 45 minutes.

"We have a style that has been known for a long time," Valverde added.

"We must be aggressive with the ball and also without it, attack and have control of the game.

"I think Rafinha has done very well in both games and in practice, he has a great attitude towards the game, and in my case, this is the first time I've worked with him properly.

"Malcom gives us solutions, getting between the lines, shooting well and he's strong, which makes him difficult to knock off of the ball.

"I'm delighted."