“We have youth and the desire to feel the pride of winning”

Joan Laporta overflows with illusion in the hours before the Classic that will face Barcelona and Real Madrid in Riyadh (8:00 p.m., peninsular time). The Blaugrana president attended to the press displaced to the capital of Saudi Arabia and made emphasis on the youth of its staff and on the recovery of key pieces to try to defeat his greatest rival in the semifinals of the Spanish Super Cup.

“It is a Classic that for the first time is officially played outside the Spanish state. It is an interesting curiosity, we are with the will to victory, We have come from Barcelona recovering injuries, today we will be able to count on players that until now we did not have. The coach can finally choose and the truth is that we are very hopeful in this game with Madrid. We have the strength of youth and also a very talented youth ”, Laporta began by explaining. Xavi will be able to count on Pedri, Ansu Fati, De Jong and Araujo, who trained with the group yesterday in the pre-game session.

The Blaugrana president also celebrated the registration of Ferran Torres, the great winter signing from Manchester City. “We have been able to enroll Ferran Torres, who helps us to have a more competitive squad. The reinstatement of injured players also makes us stronger and I think we have a very important asset: youth and the desire to feel the pride of winning a match of these characteristics. They are very nice games to play and it must be wonderful to win. We have already won many times, this squad is young, there are players who do not know what that is and today they can feel that pride of winning ”.

Finally, Laporta also wanted to send a message to the fans of Saudi Arabia who will support Barcelona tonight. “I want to thank all the fans of Barça from Saudi Arabia. They are showing us great affection, affection and knowledge of the spectacular club. We hope that the field will fill up today, respecting of course the COVID measures, but the tickets were sold in an hour and there is great expectation. I hope they cheer on Barça ”.