Roura: “This Saturday was a special day”

Jordi Roura / PHOTO: MIGUEL RUIZ - FCB
Beyond the fact that Barça won the three points, Roura highlighted Abidal and Vilanova’s return to the team: “It was a special moment for all of us”

On the match against Mallorca, the assistant manger praised the performances put in by Cesc, Song and Alexis

Jordi Roura sat in the press room after the match against Mallorca in front of the assembled journalists, and before he took any questions he said, “ I would like to highlight the importance of the match this Saturday. It was a special day. We were able to witness Éric Abidal’s return and, after many days, Tito Vilanova once again sat on the bench at the Camp Nou.” He added: “it was a special moment for the whole team. We know that Éric is very loved person by everyone. Personally, I’m very happy and pleased.”

Abidal was without a doubt the biggest news from tonight’s match, but there were certainly others. Cesc, for example, scored a hat-trick. “Cesc adapted his play perfectly to the position of a false 9. He played an extraordinary game. He’s an additional option that we have. But I’d also like to highlight Song’s game. In fact, everyone played well,” said the assistant manager.

Pleased with the team’s performance

Roura went on to say that Song is a very tactically gifted player and that he’s been putting in excellent performances this season. On Alexis, he said, “forwards live off scoring goals. The fact that he was able to score two and give two assists is important for him and for us.”

The assistant manager didn’t stop with Cesc, Song and Alexis as he noted that “when you have players like Messi, it’s unquestionable that you have a problem. The players have shown their enormous talent. All of them played well.”

Time to prepare for the match against PSG

“This Saturday we opted for this pair of centre backs (Piqué and Bartra). We’ll see which players we use in those positions on Wednesday against PSG. We have to talk it over with Tito. We won’t obsess about what their [PSG] characteristics are,” said Roura. “A three-man defence and a ‘robo’ (diamond) in the middle of the pitch is also an option. We have a lot of options,” he concluded.