Ernesto Valverde defended resting key players after Barcelona's shock 2-1 defeat to Leganes on Wednesday but admitted his team have fallen into in a very difficult moment.

Valverde's selection came under scrutiny, after he opted to rotate for the second time in three days. "Of course the coach is responsible," Valverde said. "But it is easy now to talk about the rotations, but you can't win the league with only eleven players."