Barça Manager Jordi Roura: “our morale has to be high” against Real Madrid

Barcelona (FCB).- After Tuesday’s painful Cup KO, Barça face Real Madrid again, this time in a league competition they are dominating - leading their great rivals by 16 points- a situation that leads Roura to insist on an optimistic message, insisting: “our morale has to be good, because our attitude is unbeatable and we will win again”.

Roura went on: “it’s a very important game and there is a lot at stake. The League is the top prize and a good result on Saturday will be a great step forward. If we are so far ahead now, that’s because we have played exceptionally well up to now”.

Problems identified

Roura admitted: “against Milan and Madrid we were not as inspired as usual, but that is no cause for pessimism. The team will go on and we’ll compete for everything. The players’ attitude and work ethic is as always admirable”. The coach also agreed that the players were down (after Tuesday’s defeat), but made it clear that the best thing now is to compete and get a positive result on Saturday.

Roura gave his analysis of Tuesday’s defeat, explaining: “we’ve looked at the problems we had and they are pretty clear to see. Many of them come from playing against a tough team. We know how Real Madrid play and now we are trying to improve those things we did badly”. When asked to comment on Tito Villanova’s absence Roura was clearly moved by his boss’ situation. He also went on to explain that his own time at FC Barcelona had taught him how to deal with media criticism and keep a distance from it.

Aim is to win in the Bernabeu

Roura is also clear about which Barça will run out onto the Bernabeu pitch: “we will, as we always do, go out to win the game. We don’t know which Real Madrid we’ll be facing, but whatever team they put out they will be very competitive – they have a big, strong squad. These games are always difficult and it’s the small details that decide them”.