FC Barcelona are all set to face Athletic Club in their upcoming La Liga match. Xavi undertook his customary press conference yesterday, in which he talked about different aspects related to Barcelona and the game against Bilbao in particular.
The current Athletic Club and former Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde, also talked to the press prior to this match. In addition to talking about the state of affairs at his club, he also said some interesting things about FC Barcelona.
Valverde on Barcelona’s problems
Barcelona will go into this match amid a robust storm as they are missing a number of important players due to injury, cannot play at Camp Nou because of the renovations, and also have the unneeded extra pressure of the Negreira case and its discussion in the media.
However, as SPORT has reported, Valverde believed the latter two problems would not impact Barcelona too much:
“I see them playing very well, and last year they were league champions. There’s always media noise surrounding teams, and we’re all accustomed to that background noise. But this is football, eleven against eleven, a field, and good players.”
Valverde also believed the change from Camp Nou to the Montjuic would not impact the team too much: “At first it may change, but it is not significant”, he claimed and pointed out how Barcelona have won all of their home games this season:
“What’s important is what you see. It’s a good team with a great coach, and players who know the playing style well, and that serves them well. We can see that it doesn’t affect them.”
Praise for Araujo
Valverde praised one Barcelona player in particular, Ronald Araujo, and pointed out his “extraordinary spirit and desire to learn” as two of his greatest strengths:
“His entry into the team has been very good, and that drive to move forward and learn has helped him. Technically, he has been settling in, and I see him as an important player for Barcelona.”
Despite what Valverde says, Barcelona will definitely be challenged to go into the match against Athletic Club with such problems. However, the Catalans are still the favourites for this match, and will have to win it to remain competitive in the race for the title against Real Madrid.
