Silence, it plays. Shaken by an arbitration scandal since mid-February, the dressing room of FC Barcelona "does not speak" of extra-sporting subjects and is only preparing to receive a Real Madrid "touched" who will "want to take revenge" Wednesday (21h) in the semi-final return of the Copa del Rey, assured Xavi on Tuesday.
"Non-sporting subjects do not enter the locker room. We talk about what we need to correct, how to place ourselves... We are not talking about Negreira (the former boss of Spanish refereeing at the heart of the case), Tebas (the president of the Spanish League), or UEFA... We just want to prove that we can beat them again," Xavi told a news conference on Tuesday.
Xavi puts Real in the position of "favourite"
The Blaugrana technician quickly followed up on the factors to watch on the side of Madrid, beaten 1-0 in the first leg, during this new clasico. "They will be affected, they will want to take revenge. They lost the last three clasicos, but tomorrow it will be another battle. It's a place in the final that is at stake," Xavi said.
The former Camp Nou star expects Real to be "aggressive, who will want to deprive us of balls. They know that without the ball, we suffer, so they will come to press us high, they did it in the first leg and they had been superior in ball possession," he recalled.
"The Spanish Super Cup final, and also the La Liga match at home, are examples of how we want to play" against Real, said the Blaugrana coach, who sees Real as "favorites". "We will try to corner them in their camp, we should show a lot of personality to have the ball," he insisted.
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