With most domestic races in Europe long decided, it’s interesting to note the huge changes Champions League teams made in league action. Six of the eight teams chancing the European Cup made seven changes on Saturday. Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich was one of two teams to keep over half their lineup in place, making only five changes, while Turkish leaders Galatasaray returned seven players who started Wednesday’s match at the Santiago Bernabeu.
For a veteran team like Juventus, the changes are necessary. An aging squad can’t play three games in nine days (which is why it was so curious that Antonio Conte started a full-strength team last Saturday at Inter Milan). For teams with younger legs, there are two schools of thought. You don’t want to do anything to disrupt whatever rhythm or momentum your team’s built; however, fatigue and injury have to be considered. If you’re facing struggling opposition in a game that won’t influence your league fortunes, the benefits of maintaining a routine don’t outweigh using caution.
Some of this weekend’s moves were forced by fitness. After a mid-week injury, Toni Kroos is out for much of the rest of the season, as is Javier Mascherano. Lionel Messi, a doubt for Wednesday against Paris Saint-Germain, was out this weekend.
Here are the ins and outs for each team on Saturday. Players in italics came on as substitutes:
| Changes | Club | Out | In |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Barcelona in progress | Jordi Alba Sergio Busquets Xavi Hernandez Javier Mascherano Lionel Messi David Villa Victor Valdes | Thiago Alcantera Marc Barta Cesc Fabregas Martin Montoya Pedro Pinto Alexander Song Cristian Tello |
Borussia Dortmund won vs. Augsburg, 4-2 | Mario Gotze Ilkay Gundogan Sebastian Kehl Robert Lewandowski Lukasz Piszczek Marco Reus Roman Weinfeller | Sven Bender Leonardo Bittebcourt Jonas Hofmann Moritz Leitner Nuri Sahin Julian Schieber Marcel Schmelzer | |
Juventus won vs. Pescara, 2-1 | Andrea Barzagli Gianluigi Buffon Giorgio Chiellini Claudio Marchisio Alessandro Matri Andrea Pirlo Fabio Quagliarella</td> | Kwadwo Asamoah Emanuele Giaccherini Sebastian Giovinco Luca Marrone Poul Pogba Marco Storari Mirko Vucinic | |
Málaga lost at Real Sociedad, 4-2 | Julio Baptista Willy Caballero Martin Demichelis Isco Joaquin Javier Saviola Jeremy Toulalan | Ignacio Camacho Sebastian Fernández Carlos Kameni Diego Lugano Pedro Morales Francisco Portillo Roque Santa Cruz | |
Paris Saint-Germain won at Rennes, 2-0 | Alex David Beckham Christophe Jallet Ezequiel Lavezzi Lucas Moura Javier Pastore Thiago Silva | Zoumana Camara Clement Chantome Kevin Gameiro Jeremy Menez Mamadou Sahko Marco Veratti Gregory van der Wiel | |
Real Madrid won vs. Levante, 5-1 | Fabio Coentrao Angel Di Maria Michael Essien Sami Khedira Mesut Ozil Cristiano Ronaldo Raphael Varane | Alvaro Arbeloa José Callejon Gonzalo Higuain Kaka Marcelo Luka Modric Pepe | |
| 5 | Bayern Munich won at Eintracht Frankfurt, 1-0 | Luiz Gustavo Toni Kroos Mario Mandzukic Franck Ribery Daniel van Buyten | Jerome Boateng Mario Gomez Xavi Martinez Arjen Robben Xherdan Shaqiri |
| 4 | Galatasaray won vs. Mersin Idmanyurdu, 3-1 | Emmanuel Eboue Selcuk Inan Semik Kaya Albert Riera | Hakan Balta Emre Colak Sabri Sarioglu Gokhan Zan |