FOOTBALL
The players have had little time to recover from a tough contest in Malaga and have the Cup tie against Real Madrid on the horizon, but the assistant coach believes the team is "ready to compete at the maximum level"
"On Sunday, we’ll see what our starting eleven will be, but we have to take each game as it comes regardless of how important the Real Madrid match is”
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Jordi Roura, aquest dissabte al migdia en roda de premsa / FOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB
“They’re solid defensively and they’re on the way up. We’ve just had a tough midweek match and I don’t think it’ll be an easy game. But all in all, I think we’re ready to compete at the maximum level”"I expect Valdés to get a warm and respectful reception”Jordi Roura only has three training sessions to get the players back in shape after the Cup game against Malaga. But preparations are going ahead as usual for Sunday’s league clash against Osasuna despite the fact that Barça have a Cup semi-final first leg match against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu on Wednesday (9 pm). Speaking at a press conference on Saturday lunchtime, he told reporters: "We’ve just had a good game (against Malaga) and on Wednesday we have an important game - and in the middle is Osasuna. We can’t let our guard down and I’m sure that won’t happen”.
The match comes close on the heels of the first league defeat of the season last weekend but the coach is clear that the plan is, “to carry on with the same intensity and keep on winning”. Roura is waiting to see how his players recover from the Malaga game before he names his starting line-up to take on Osasuna but he stressed on Saturday that he would not be distracted by next week’s Cup classic: “We have to take each game as it comes regardless of how important the Real Madrid match is. We’re going to concentrate exclusively on Osasuna”.
"It won’t be an easy game"
Sunday’s opponent in the Camp Nou, Osasuna, has the fourth best defensive record in the First Division, despite languishing in the relegation zone. “They’re solid defensively and they’re on the way up. We’ve just had a tough midweek match and I don’t think it’ll be an easy game. But all in all, I think we’re ready to compete at the maximum level”.
"I expect Valdés to get a warm and respectful reception”
Víctor Valdés announced last week that he would not be staying at the Club when his present contract expires in 2014. Jordi Roura is certain that he’ll get a good reception from the fans on Sunday. "Valdés is our goalkeeper and I expect him to get a warm and respectful reception, as he’s always had”.
Finally, the coach revealed that number two goalkeeper José Manuel Pinto is suffering from a cold and did not take part in today’s training session, staying behind to work out in the gym.