MADRID, 25 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The left-back of FC Barcelona Alejandro Balde predicted a “good game” against English Arsenal in the early hours of Wednesday to Thursday (4:30 am), a “Champions” duel for which the Barça team, affected days ago by viral gastroenteritis, “already feels very good” and “willing to start playing”.
“It will be a good match, the truth is that Arsenal-Barça is a Champions League match. We are all looking forward to starting to play, to see the feelings we have”, valued the defender in statements shared by the club on their social networks.
The match against the Londoners will be the Catalans’ debut this preseason, after an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis in a significant part of the squad prevented the game from being played, a priori initially, against Juventus. “The virus has affected the team a bit, but we are already recovering strength, the truth is that the team feels very good,” Balde reassured.
“I am focused as always, the same as the team last year, with the same enthusiasm, with the same desire. My goal is to improve every day, to continue learning, because I am still very young and nothing is guaranteed at Barça”, he remarked about his role this season in the squad, where he is expected to have even more prominence without the presence of Jordi Alba.
Finally, Balde addressed the arrivals of Ilkay Gündogan, Iñigo Martínez and Oriol Romeu, “very good and veteran signings, with experience”, which he hopes will bring them closer to the continental goal. “The Champions League is a pending task that we have, this year we have to try,” he concluded.