On the Clásico: “We have the opportunity to get hooked on LaLiga and stay within five points”
MADRID, 20 Abr. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The coach of FC Barcelona, The fact that the white team has eliminated “the best team in the world”, Manchester City, twice in recent years, “is neither coincidence nor luck.”
“We have the opportunity to get hooked on LaLiga, to put the difference at five points. I think that right now it becomes the most important game of the season. We will find a strong Madrid, which is already strong in itself, but especially after to eliminate what we consider the best team in the world, which is City, they will have euphoria through the roof,” he declared at a press conference.
In this sense, he stressed that he is a “very strong physically and emotionally” rival. “We have to try to change the chip. Today we have trained better, yesterday we were still a little hungover from the Champions League. We have prepared the game well, with all the enthusiasm in the world to fight for this League,” he said. “For us it is the most important game of the season. We have to win to put pressure on the leader, Real Madrid, and if we win we would be five points away. We are going to try to compete and try to win at the Bernabéu, that is our goal “, he claimed.
The Catalan coach insisted that they must “change the chip.” “We must think that this anger, this frustration and the impotence of the other day, that the result did not come out and due to difficult circumstances to digest, that it turns in our favor. We must change the frustration by playing football very well. We have a “Real Madrid is really strong in itself, in its squad, in its players, and morally reinforced after this Champions League week,” he warned.
“Surely in the first minutes of each half Madrid will push; they are at home, they will be emboldened. We have to be very brave with the ball, not lose it, give support to our teammate. It is the perfect setting to show personality and everything we have We have prepared the game well, both in attack and defense. I think we can play a great game and win the Bernabéu, but we have to show it tomorrow. In the first minutes it will be key to dominate and calm down this game or this pressure in some way. high that Madrid will surely make,” he continued.
On the other hand, Xavi did not avoid talking about how Carlo Ancelotti’s team overcame the quarterfinal tie against Manchester City. “Madrid had to defend itself. In the end you are in front of the best team in the world, Manchester City, and they had to place themselves many times in the middle block, low block, and many times it is not because you want it, it is because it submits to you.” the rival. He had to defend himself and defended himself very well, and it is also legal,” he explained.
“These are parts of the game that you have to master and Real Madrid also competes well in that. They already did it here in the first round match; the first half was totally ours and it was only 1-0. Tomorrow, apart from playing Well, we have to be effective, because Madrid is. Madrid defends very well, it is effective, it runs you into space, they are one of the best in the world, they make transitions that are fierce, fast, they have potential. “We are talking about one of the best teams in the world and in recent years,” he continued.
He also believes that the whites’ competitive spirit is due to the fact that “they have won many times.” “When you have won so many times you play with more calm, less urgency, with more confidence. They are a very good team. Luck? I don’t believe so much in luck. I believe in the defensive work, in the work of solidarity that they showed, “Everyone worked, the three at the top worked harder than ever, they covered…”, he said.
“Yes, Manchester City had the game in their hands and failed on clear occasions, but it is football. It is no coincidence that Madrid has twice eliminated the best team in the world, Manchester City, in the last three years. We are competing us with this team in Spain: Real Madrid,” he continued, before rejecting that they are going to be penalized for fatigue. “We arrived well, physically we have trained well for two days and I think we are prepared to win the game. I don’t think fatigue affects too much in this type of game,” he noted.
“We have all the respect in the world for Real Madrid, in LaLiga they have lost one game out of 31, the numbers are extraordinary. We do not have bad numbers in LaLiga, we have four points less than last season, when we were comfortably leaders. Madrid “They have done a very good job so far, but tomorrow it is up to us if they lose the game. I see it as an opportunity to get closer to five points. We are going to give up everything to try to compete against, for me, a great team,” he explained. .
In another order of things, the culé coach regretted that the team did not know how to manage being one less against PSG due to the expulsion of Ronald Araujo. “It saddens me; we have had games where we defended very well, remaining with ten the first season. We have remained with ten many times and we have defended very well, but the other day we were not good. They are our mistakes, we do not accuse anyone. I I was also wrong, we have to criticize ourselves. Next year the club will return to the Champions League and we will compete again in the best possible way,” he stressed.
“I was wrong when they expelled me, I should have controlled myself more. I am wrong, but they are situations in which there is a lot of tension, where you see an injustice. We did not minimize the errors and that took its toll on us. It is a shame, because we had a chance to gold. When we played 11 against 11, we were very good and the situation was very favorable, but we lost it,” he said.
He also downplayed Ilkay Gündogan’s statements after the match, claiming that Araujo had made a mistake. “It’s solved, there is no problem. In fact, there was no problem, but by talking people understand each other and there is no problem, everything is solved,” he said.
Finally, Xavi denied that he is going to hold a meeting to discuss his future. “There is no meeting, they have not summoned me. And then, what is not important? Now I am not the important one, it is the team. Tomorrow we are playing for the League title or a good part of the title. If we do not win, It will be very difficult. If we lose, obviously. But we have to win, tomorrow we have to win. We’re playing LaLiga, I’m not the important one,” he concluded.