Soccer News Soccer Match Reports, Football News
Barcelona will take on Real Madrid in perhaps their most important match of the season tomorrow at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Having crashed out of the UEFA Champions League earlier this week, Barcelona have only the La Liga title left to play for.
They are already eight points behind leaders Real Madrid in the table and need a win tomorrow to stand a chance of making a late push for the title.
Ahead of the game, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez addressed the media, discussing various topics, including the fallout from the club’s defeat to PSG earlier in the week.
“Tomorrow we have the chance to get back into La Liga. It happens to be the most important game of the season. We will find a strong Madrid and even more so after eliminating the best team in the world, City,” said Xavi, kicking things off.
“The euphoria will be sky high and the opposition will be very strong. Today we trained well, yesterday we had a Champions League hangover. The team has all the enthusiasm in the world to fight for this league.”
On what kind of Real Madrid he is expecting to see tomorrow, considering how defensive they were against Manchester City earlier in the week, the Barcelona manager said:
“Madrid had to defend against City, who are the best team in the world today. They had to defend and they defended very well. These are situations that you have to dominate and they also know how to do it.
“In the first half with us, they did well. They have potential, they know how to attack and make transitions.”
Adding that they did discuss about how Real Madrid might come at them tomorrow, Xavi remarked: “We talked about it today, that in the first few minutes of each half, Madrid will press. They are at home. We have to be very brave.
“It’s the perfect stage to show personality. We’ve prepared well for the game, I think we can play well and win. The first few minutes will be key, calming the game and pressing high.”
On Real Madrid’s competitive spirit, Xavi…
Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/the-most-important-game-xavi-talks-ahead-of-barcelonas-final-vs-real-madrid/
Author : Michel Durant
Publish date : 2024-04-20 11:42:26
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
