Champions League Round of 16 (13th Feb - 14th Mar)

There's a difference between being a back-up and not starting a game.

Say you start your game against Sevilla with a mind on the weekend fixtures, so you rest Martial. Rasford, Mata and Sanchez behind Lukaku. Does that suddenly make Martial a back-up? Of course it doesn't.
That'd be for one game though. Even though Stones has been out injured it is clear to see who your preferred options are at the back. Stones will probably play in the cups with the odd league appearance when you focus on the latter stages of the CL for me that means he's a backup.
 
When you see two of Europe’s top teams standing out there and that CL anthem begins to play, it beggars belief that there are people who would really prefer to win a domestic league than this magical competition
 
When you see two of Europe’s top teams standing out there and that CL anthem begins to play, it beggars belief that there are people who would really prefer to win a domestic league than this magical competition
and someone in the football forums asking why we'd want to finish in the top four. Crazy.
 
That'd be for one game though. Even though Stones has been out injured it is clear to see who your preferred options are at the back. Stones will probably play in the cups with the odd league appearance when you focus on the latter stages of the CL for me that means he's a backup.
Except that won't happen. Stones has started 8 of the 12 league games he was fit for before his hamstring injury in December, and then 3 of 5 league games he was fit for once he returned. That's 11 of 17, which equals 70%. Over the course of a 38 game season that's 26 starts. Back-ups don't start 26 games every season.
 
Could be Gigi's penultimate CL game ever. I want Juve to go through mostly because he deserves better than what he's endured in the CL.
 
Except that won't happen. Stones has started 8 of the 12 league games he was fit for before his hamstring injury in December, and then 3 of 5 league games he was fit for once he returned. That's 11 of 17, which equals 70%. Over the course of a 38 game season that's 26 starts. Back-ups don't start 26 games every season.
All of that was before Laporte came in.