“I have not seen many games of Xavi’s Barça, I have things to do”

From your experience, what would you say is the most important thing for a match like tomorrow’s, against Barcelona in a Super Cup semi-final ?: “The experience I have at this club tells me that we want to win every competition we play. It does not matter where it is and what competition. It is our goal these days here: to win first tomorrow and then the Cup. We are ready. I am clear that we are here to win ”.

How do you assess his evolution this season, that he started with an injured pubis? Do you feel in one of the best moments of your career for physical and football level ?: “The start of the season was a bit difficult, because I never started a season with an injury. It was time to stop, I didn’t want another season of pain and feeling bad. I missed some games, but I think I used that time well to be perfect when I came back and I think it worked very well. It is a good moment, it is true, but to say that it is the best moment of my career is difficult because I have lived many good years already. But it’s a good time for sure. I feel good physically ”.

Madrid won the derby and the Classic, being clearly superior but in a different way. Against Atlético he had 61% possession and against Barça 48%. With what formula do you see yourself most comfortable: yielding the ball and looking for the counterattack or carrying the weight of the game ?: “Those who know me well know that I prefer to have the ball, but it is important that a team knows how to adapt to a game and how to win. If you have as much speed as we do above, you have to take advantage of it and let the opponent play a little so that they leave spaces. It can be a way to control, but with less possession. I prefer to have the ball. For me the best match would be to have 90% possession and win 1-0. It is worth it. Having possession without creating something is not worth it either. the game to win the games with the maximum possible possession. “

Madrid arrives more favorite. Can overconfidence be an enemy against a wounded opponent ?: “It may be that in La Liga we are a little better than Barça, but my experience is that there are no favorites in a Classical, it is a special match and tomorrow is like a final. Anything can happen and Barça has a lot of quality. In a Classic there is no favorite for me. But what there is no doubt about is that we want to win. “

What are the qualities that you see in Xavi’s Barça ?: “The truth is that lately I have not seen many Barça games. We have games ourselves. Then I also have other things to do than watch football all day. But in general I know the players who play for Barça. It is also difficult to know who he is going to play, because they have some doubts about who is going to play. But they have high quality players. I can’t say from the outside what has changed with Xavi “.

Does Alaba remind you of Bayern ?: “He has made a very good evolution. When I left Bayern he was much younger. He has played as a winger. It is a very big change of position. Before at Bayern he has always played as a winger. It has not surprised me that he has adapted very well. Well, because I know his quality on the pitch and abroad as well. He plays as if he has been here for many years and that is very important to us. “

The moment when Madrid arrives: “In general the last two or three months we have improved a lot, not only in the results, but in the game. You have to play well to win things. If not, sooner or later you lose points. We have improved and we have played very well in games. We are still in January, except for the Super Cup, you don’t win anything. We have to continue because in the League we have a close team and if you fail they will be there. If we think we are doing so well we will have problems. “