“Football is an industry that seeks sources of income and that is why we are here in Saudi Arabia”
BARCELONA, Jan 8 (SportsFinding) –
The coach of FC Barcelona, Ernesto Valverde, has shown on Wednesday quite contrary to the new format of the Spanish Super Cup, which is played in a final four with two invited teams such as Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid, rival of the blaugranas in a semifinal that the coach anticipates equaled.
“It is strange to play four Supercup teams, it is what it is, if they give me a choice I prefer the previous format but it is the RFEF who must decide the format and has chosen this one, I saw that it was the first title of the season. These matches generate expectation although there is only one League champion and there is only one Cup, “he said at a press conference.
Barça and Valencia had to play the Super Cup, but with the change of format now Barça is measured in the semifinals of Atlético de Madrid and, if he wins, he will play the final against Valencia or Real Madrid. “I give you an objective fact. It is my fifth Super Cup, in the first three my team had to play the second game at the home of the rival, the League champion. The last two, that my team has won the League, one went to the match unique in neutral field and in this we have to play with two invited teams, “he lamented.
“The football we are in right now is an industry, sources of income are always sought and that is why we are here. In the same way that there are special connotations in this country, there were also in Morocco. We prefer to play in home, but here we are, “said Valverde when asked about human and social rights in Saudi Arabia.
In this regard, he reiterated that this Super Cup has an absolutely different format than what they are used to. “It is a definitive match and the one who will be the one who can play the final and we take it as a League match, knowing that we are looking for victory and we know the difficulty of playing against Atlético, we saw it in the League match, which was very disputed and we won in the end, “he said about the duel against the 'mattresses'.
On a sports level, he said he brings a wide call, with players from the subsidiary and only without the injured, not knowing if they will be in Arabia until Sunday. “At the moment we have a game, and we came from playing last Saturday. We have margin days and there is no reason to think about much more, after tomorrow's game another game may come or not, taking into account the format,” he said.
“We have brought many players because we do not know how long we are going to be here. We have to train, and that kind of issues. There are no easy games against Atlético, we have to be vigilant because anything can happen,” he said.
Regarding the fact that he was lost to Jeddah and that he was late for the initial press conference, Valverde explained it with a smile. “We have known a little more about the city in the car. There was a small mistake, the driver thought the wheel was in the stadium where I think Real Madrid and Valencia are going to play today and we were going there. He noticed some How many kilometers ahead, here is an important traffic and we have arrived late, “he said.