.@AndresIniesta8 : “We’ll play against Paris Saint-Germain as if it were a final”

Iniesta on his way to the press room / PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ-FCB
The midfielder says that “we’re feeling very good” despite missing players ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League showdown with PSG

Andrés Iniesta, winner of three Champions League titles, is acutely aware of how important tomorrow’s Champions League quarter-final match against Paris Saint-Germain is: “we’re playing for a spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League. We’re going to play at home in front of our people and the result from the away leg isn’t bad, but we’ll be forced to play a nearly perfect game. We will be without some of our players, but that’s the situation we’re in. We’ll play against Paris Saint-Germain as if it were a final,” said the midfielder in the pre-match press conference this afternoon.

[[CITA_1]]

Tomorrow’s match, “different” than the one against Milan

When asked about the similarities between tomorrow’s match against PSG and the return leg of the Round of 16 against AC Milan, Iniesta said “we were in an extreme situation” against the Italian team, against PSG “it’s different.” He added: “we have to be intense from the start and we have to have the same ambition that we had against AC Milan. Our rivals suffer quite a bit when we start matches off like that, but the situation is different. Against Milan we just had to get the job done … We have to be able to play with the time and the result of the match.”

Praise for PSG

The FC Barcelona midfielder went on to praise the Parisian side: “they reach your area very quickly, they don’t need to pass or elaborate their play; they have very technical players. We’re talking about a very complete and talented team, we have to keep this in mind.”

Messi’s fitness

Many of the questions asked during the press conference were about whether or not Messi would feature for the Blaugrana tomorrow against PSG. “It all depends on how Messi is feeling and how well he’s recovered from his injury,” said Iniesta, who added, “if Messi can’t play we will all have to give just a little bit more of ourselves.”

“We’re playing for a spot in the semi-finals of the Champions League. We’re going to play at home in front of our people and the result from the away leg isn’t bad, but we’ll be forced to play a nearly perfect game”