Ivan Rakitić bemoans lack of squad depth at Barça | OneFootball

Ivan Rakitić has joined Sergio Busquets in appearing to take a swipe at the Barcelona board.

The Croatian midfielder admitted the squad was too small following the Catalans’ 1-1 draw at Napoli in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Barcelona will be without both Busquets and Arturo Vidal for the return leg on March 18 through suspension.

Speaking to Marca after the game in Italy, Rakitić said: “Our squad is short but those responsible already knew this.

“The solution is what it is, and those of us in the squad now need to pull together ahead of a very important return leg.

“We knew it was going to be very difficult, it’s hard to play against a team that closes down space so much. We made a mistake and they scored.”

Rakitić’s teammate Busquets commented on a similar subject post-match, stating: “We don’t have a deep squad because, unfortunately, that’s how it was planned.”

Barça are also without Luis Suárez and Ousmane Dembélé for the remainder of the season due to injury.