Barca don’t rest stars, scoffs Shearer

From Back Page pundit Alan Shearer, who said the likes of Barcelona would not field weakened teams in their domestic cup. ‘You never see it with Suarez, Messi, Neymar,’ said the former England captain. ‘These are the best players in the world and I never see these guys wanting to be left out. ‘I know Barcelona won 7-0 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey and players were then left out of the second leg — that’s understandable. Other than that, I never see these guys being left out. It seems a big issue in our country.’ Clubs in Spain and Italy are often allowed to play domestic fixtures earlier ahead of Champions League games, to allow them more time to rest and prepare. Pellegrini was unhappy that City had to travel to Chelsea the day before flying to Ukraine. He said the club had tried to get the Chelsea match rescheduled and added: ‘If any team respects all the cups, it’s this team. That’s why we are in the Capital One Cup final, that’s why we won the two previous games in this cup. ‘Today we couldn’t because I think we have more important things at the moment.’ Pellegrini denied he had let down the competition by selecting development squad players David Faupala, Tosin Adarabioyo, Bersant Celina, Aleix Garcia and Manu Garcia at Stamford Bridge. He said: ‘I don’t think I need to defend it. We played two rounds before against Premier League teams and we won 4-0 and 3-0 (against Aston Villa and Norwich respectively). ‘The FA Cup, yes, of course (it is special). But it’s impossible for us to take the risk to play in both competitions. We were just in the fifth round of this competition. ‘Now we have a chance to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in our club’s history. ‘With 13 players (available), to prioritise is a sensible decision.’ West Ham booked their place in the FA Cup’s last eight — where they face the winners of tonight’s tie between Shrewsbury and Manchester United — with an impressive 5-1 win at Blackburn. And manager Slaven Bilic said: ‘The FA Cup is massive. We are crazy about going through.’