Young forward Ansu Fati is having a hard time finding playing time in the past few games. Against Napoli, Real Madrid, and Real Sociedad, Fati only got 17 minutes. This even though Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé are injured, and Martin Braithwaite is ineligible for UEFA Champions League games.

The youngster could still be in line to start against Real Sociedad with Arturo Vidal and Sergio Busquets suspended, and Arthur struggling for fitness. Quique Setién had opted for using four midfielders in his starting XI but that seems less plausible now.

Fati has not received time with the B team, either, meaning his growth is coming strictly in training for the most part. Of course, part of the reason was that Barcelona has played such big games lately, but then again, with Fati not playing almost at all during that time, he doesn’t seem particularly ready to start big games either.

This is a catch-22 situation for the mega-talented forward, although perhaps he is just waiting for a time to once again show his considerable talent.