Xavi Guarte: a possible "replacement" for Jordi Alba
Valverde joked that Barça's press guy could fill in at left-back
It was one of the anecdotes from Ernesto Valerde's press conference on Friday. When Javier Gascón asked the Barcelona coach who could replace Jordi Alba in case of an emergency, with no backup left-back in the squad, an extensive list was given.
Valverde said: "For now... we will see. Why do we need to get ahead of ourselves?"
However, he soon joked: "It's possible that we could use [Barça B defender] Juan Miranda, Thomas Vermaelen, Sergi Roberto, we could play with three centre-backs. It's possible that it could be Xavi... we will put some one in, for sure."
The Barça boss was referring to Xavi Guarte, who is part of the club's press department and was sat alongside him during the press conference.
It didn't end there, with Valverde turning to his side and asking Xavi: "Are you left footed?" The answer was no. "Now he'll have to play on his weak foot," the coach finished.
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