Xavi Hernandez believes that this Sunday’s Clasico will have no impact on the final outcome of LaLiga Santander, but he is confident that it will serve to consolidate his team’s good form, although he sees Real Madrid as favourites.
The Barcelona head coach was asked if Lionel Messi is welcime back at the Camp Nou.
“He is the best in history and he’ll always be welcome at Barcelona,” he told the press.
“As long as I’m coach, it doesn’t matter if he wants to come here every day. I think we owe him a huge amount.
“He has a contract with PSG and there is little we can say. Like whether he wants to come here every day to watch the training sessions and talk to the coach. What he has given us is priceless.”
Xavi is looking forward to the match admits his side are in for a hard game, but they’ll fight for the win.
“It’s very special. It’s a tough and complicated game. Playing there is always difficult. We’re going to attack and play to get three points,” he said.
As always, there is a lot of pressure when these two sides meet, and a win would do a lot for Barcelona‘s season.
“Winning tomorrow puts us in a good position to achieve our first objective, which is to get into the Champions League,” Xavi added.
“In the case of winning tomorrow, I see it as just one game anyway.
“We would be 12 points behind with a game in hand. The pressure is the same. It’s a Clasico and we want to win.”
The Barcelona doesn’t know exactly what to expect from his side’s biggest rivals ahead of the game.
“Madrid are chameleon-like. You don’t know if they will go up or down,” he stated.
“We don’t know what to expect. We’ll try to have a lot of possession and play our style of football.
“Playing at home I imagine they’ll be pressing high up the pitch all game. We have to be prepared for all facets of the game.”
Marca
