Andoni Iraola gives ‘sensible’ explanation for benching £331m Liverpool trio against Villarreal

Andoni Iraola has explained his reasoning for naming Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Florian Wirtz among the substitutes for Liverpool in their Champions League clash against Villarreal tonight.

With the Reds playing for a fourth time in 10 days, the head coach has made six changes to his starting line-up from the weekend win at Brentford, three of which see the club’s three most expensive signings of all time dropping to the bench.

The Swedish striker (£125m), French winger (£106m) and German playmaker (£100m) are all in reserve if needed against the LaLiga outfit.

Iraola explains multiple changes against Villarreal

Speaking to Prime Video Sport just under an hour before kick-off, Iraola was candid in explaining that the big-name trio have all been benched tonight for the purposes of squad rotation amid a hectic fixture schedule.

The Basque said: “Different circumstances. It is the fourth game in 10 days. Florian and Bradley have played almost every minute. We have to be sensible also with Alex. We have to be considerate and manage the minutes. They are ready to go in the second half.”

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Iraola taking a calculated gamble with Reds trio

Iraola has taken a calculated gamble by putting Barcola, Isak and Wirtz on the bench tonight, acknowledging the tight turnaround whilst trusting in other options to get a result against a decent Villarreal side.

Of that £100m+ trio, only the German is among the five most-used players for Liverpool throughout the season so far, although they have had plenty of minutes since the recent international window.

Iraola appears to be taking caution with the Swedish marksman after his recent injury, even with the 27-year-old scoring the winner on Saturday, while Wirtz and Barcola have played almost the entirety of the three matches from last week.

The hope is that the starting XI can get the job done and that the big names in reserve won’t be needed tonight, but it’s good to know that they’re available in case the match is in the balance in the final 20 minutes.