The assistant manager urged his players to be “intense and focused” in tomorrow’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain
“PSG dominate various aspects of the game. Ibrahimovic’s presence on the pitch forces us to adapt to his style of play,” said Roura
“We’re among the top eight team in Europe, in the quarter finals of the Champions League. This is going to be extremely difficult,” declared Jordi Roura in the pre-match press conference ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League showdown with Paris Saint-Germain. “PSG are a great team. They have Ibrahimovic, Moura, Lavezzi and a long list of fantastic players on a very deep roster,” he added. FC Barcelona’s assistant manager went on to say that his men “are very excited to play the match. We’re eager to compete against a fantastic team in such a magnificent venue. We have to be intense and focused.” He warned Barça mustn’t make the same mistakes that it made against AC Milan: “We cannot allow ourselves to be at anything other than at 100%.”
“PSG are very good on the counter. In that sense, we’re used to playing against these types of rivals. However, PSG are very good at dominating other aspects of the game,” warned Roura. When asked about Ibrahimovic, he explained, “we know his qualities and we have to adapt to them. He’s a special player.” With that said, the assistant manager declared that Barça will not change its style of play: “we know that they have tall and physical players, they are very good on set pieces. We are what we are but we won’t change our style of play. It doesn’t benefit us.”
Tito to sit on the bench
The assistant manager revealed that “Tito Vilanova will be on the bench with us. He’s the boss and, therefore, on a professional level, his return is important. It means that we’re returning to normalcy. On a personal level it’s a great joy for all of us, he’s someone who is very loved.” When asked about Barça’s starting line-up, Roura said that the decision will be made in conjunction with Vilanova and Altimira. “With Xavi and Alba we still have to wait a few hours to see if they can play. We’ll have to pay attention to how they feel after today’s training session.” On Cristian Tello, the assistant manager said, “frankly, he played really well on Saturday and all of his options to play tomorrow are open, just like the rest of the squad.”