Vitor Roque poised to start for Barcelona against Las Palmas as Robert Lewandowski doubts emerge

It’s been a slightly slow start to life at Barcelona for Vitor Roque, with head coach Xavi Hernandez having chosen to bleed him in very slowly. This has meant that he has not featured too often, although that could change between now and the end of the season.

The international break was productive for Roque. He may not have been called up by Brazil for their friendlies against England and Spain, but he did produce a string of excellent training performances in Catalonia, as Barcelona sources told Relevo.

This, coupled with the fact that Robert Lewandowski is struggling with fatigue and discomfort (he played 210 minutes across the international break for Poland), means that Roque is in an excellent position to start for Barcelona on Saturday, as they welcome Las Palmas to the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.

Roque’s pace should be valuable for Barcelona against the Canaries, who are well-known for their high line tactic. It certainly makes sense for Xavi to give him the nod, and give Lewandowski an extended rest ahead of the showdown against Paris Saint-Germain, which is 11 days later.

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