JAKARTA - Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman said he did not want to start immediately with Ansu Fati when his team travel to Benfica in their Champions League Group E match on Thursday.
Barca themselves started the 2021-22 Champions League season with a 0-3 defeat at home to Bayern Munich.
The Catalan club was then held to draws by Granada and Cadiz in La Liga before finally impressing when they beat Levante 3-0 at home on Sunday, September 26.
The match against Levante became Fati's comeback event after being sidelined with a knee injury since November last year. The 18-year-old striker came on as a substitute before scoring in the game.
Fati's return has been the hope for Barcelona at the start of this season after the departure of Lionel Messi.
However, Koeman said he did not want to rush into making Fati, who inherited Messi's number 10 shirt, start against Benfica.
"He was so tired yesterday, out for so long, and then scoring a goal with his family watching in the stadium had a huge impact on his emotions," Koeman told a news conference.
"Today he has trained well and we will try to give him more playing time, but I can't say how many minutes we will give him, it depends on his condition."
Fati could also be called up to the Spain squad for the UEFA Nations League final in October.
"All I can say is he has been out for 10 months, he trained for two weeks with the team and played 15 minutes," said Koeman.
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"He still has a long way to go even though Sunday was a great day for him, he played 15 minutes and scored our third goal, it was perfect."
Benfica previously drew 0-0 in their opening Group E match in the Champions League against Dynamo Kyiv.
Bayern Munich is favorites to top Group E, so Barcelona's toughest rival to advance to the next stage is Benfica.
"Benfica is a big club, I know from experience how big they are. It's an interesting game and we need a good result," said Koeman, who coached the Portuguese team in the 2005-2006 period.
Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong is certain to return to play after missing the match against Levante due to suspension.
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