Pep is an impossible act to follow, but I won’t miss his tinkering with the lineups at the worst possible times. Kovacic is a really good player with a great career, but there was no reason to start him today after he’s played so little football this season. That said, I’d have kept him on over Rodri, who stunk it up to the highest order. He wasn’t alone, though; the body language and effort were poor from the start. How much of that is due to the number of matches in so few days compared to Bournemouth, I don’t know.
Oh, well. We don’t deserve to win the league this season anyway, so it’s easier to stomach, and a double is something no one should ever scoff at.