Arthur benched not even for Vidal, but for Rakitic, who's been told pretty much by everybody at the club, that he'll be sold not even in the summer, but in January already, gets back to start in the biggest game of the season so far after being frozen out to the bench, having his minutes reduced drastically, his form and confidence thus being at an all time low. Makes complete sense.
This is this Board for you, 'galacticos policy', buying and playing only the most expensive transfers and biggest names in our team without having an idea on how to implement them in the team. De Jong, being a 75M investment, and a new shiny toy of this season was always gonna get in somehow at someone else's expense, Bartomeu telling EV he has to play him, while Arthur, a mere 30M transfer, and from the Brazilian league no less, and with his 2nd season at the club already underway, gets benched even though he's basically our best midfielder (apart from De Jong, but who is a different player altogether, more rapid and can't control the flow of the game like Arthur can). If you consider the pure Barca passing game, Arthur is our best option right now and the closest to Xavi and Iniesta's style, especially Xavi's. And sacrifice that not only for Vidal, who can at least make some positive influence on the pitch, but for the proven fail that is Rakitic and Busquets together. Well done.