When Carles Alena was named in Barcelona’s first starting XI of the 2019-20 season he could have been forgiven for thinking this was going to be the campaign where he finally made a real impact at the Camp Nou.
Ernesto Valverde started the 21-year-old in midfield alongside new signing Frenkie de Jong and Sergi Roberto at San Mames but that is the only real positive for the midfielder so far this season.
Alena was hooked at half-time, Barca went on lose the game 1-0 and those 45 minutes remain the only minutes the youngster has seen this season.