Andres Iniesta was rested as he is carrying a niggle and Messi was given a sort of a breather (cause he was called upon in the second half) before the more important game against Villarreal this weekend. Denis Suarez, Andre Gomes and Ivan Rakitic played in the three-man midfield but couldn't really create anything worth noting.
Valverde has deployed the 4-4-2 to good effect with Messi and Suarez up top. The system works with Messi dropping deep to create, but in the 4-3-3, neither did they have a creator nor did they have good wide players to stretch the Sporting defence.
