Girona vs Barcelona - Valverde dismisses suggestions of Real Madrid crisis

Posted Saturday, September 23, 2017 by PA

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde is not taking much notice of Real Madrid's struggles.

Valverde's side enjoy a seven-point lead over their biggest rivals after beginning LaLiga with five straight wins, while Real have stuttered to two victories, two draws and were beaten at home by Real Betis in midweek.

Back in August it was Barcelona who were seemingly in crisis when Brazil star Neymar left for Paris St Germain and they were handed a 5-1 aggregate thrashing by their biggest rivals in the Supercopa.

Now it is Real coming under pressure but Valverde thinks critics are jumping to conclusions too early.

In his pre-match press conference before their first Catalan derby with Girona in LaLiga, Valverde told reporters: "Crisis of Madrid? One month ago it was us who were supposedly a disaster.

"There are teams on zero points and yes, they will think that they are in crisis, but everything changes from week to week here.

"There are many months of competition left. I care about my team."

Barcelona will look to make it seven straight wins in all competitions - including a 3-0 Champions League success against Juventus - when they face Girona on Saturday.

It will be the first league meeting between the two Catalan clubs and Valverde is looking forward to the clash.

"It's a game that they have marked in red on the fixture list, just like we have," the Barca boss said.

"We need to adapt to the specific challenges our rival poses. They are comfortable with how they play.

"Girona are playing well and getting good results at home. It will be a difficult match."

Valverde will not be tempted to give Lionel Messi a rest ahead of Wednesday's trip to Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.

Messi has scored a staggering 11 times in his last five games, including Tuesday night's four-goal display against Eibar.

"You don't normally take out a player who has scored four goals in that last match and, in fact, I will not be doing that," Valverde said.

"He's an exceptional player and we have the great fortune to be able to watch him and enjoy the things he does because no one would imagine that a player could do all that."

Girona president Delfi Geli is eagerly awaiting the first clash with their neighbours but admits stopping Messi will difficult.

He told Marca: "Leo Messi is almost impossible to stop.

"We are going to suffer with him but we are in the the first division and we knew that we had to compete against him and against other players and teams of great quality.

"To face Barca or Madrid is a great challenge for (the players)."