At the pre-match press conference, the Barça coach predicted a “football war” with Napoli, a rival who he believes has a “Champions level” despite being in the Europa League. Xavi suspects that Luciano Spalletti’s team will be biting from the first minute and will want to govern the game from possession, which they did not do for much of last Thursday’s match in Barcelona. The intention of Barça is not just to go round and round to get excited about a title that would be likely to win, but to regain some of the prestige lost in recent years in Europe, with the famous defeats against Roma, Liverpool, Bayern Munich or Paris Saint-Germain. “I don’t have to comment on what has happened in other years, but we have to focus on the game model, which has been lost over time and needs to be recovered. We have before us a great test of fire to know where we are, a very important revalidation to know if we have returned or if we still have to compete again “, said in this sense the vallesà, that recovers Piqué to the axis in relation in Sunday’s game in Valencia and has to choose and shuffle to form both the spinal cord and the front, where Gavi and Adama could be substitutes despite their good form.
Ter Stegen reads the press
Marc-André ter Stegen will be in the goal, breaking a silence that lasted for months yesterday. The German goalkeeper is not having a very successful season because his game blames the problems he has been suffering from for years on the patellar tendon of his right knee. Even so, owning one is still beyond the reach of the average person. “I am working to be better after the injury. I’m aware that something has been written to throw petrol in the fire, which I know you like, but I’m calm with the performance I have because I analyze myself and I know what things I do well “, said Ter Stegen in perfect Spanish , as is usual in him.
In collective terms, Mönchengladbach made an optimistic assessment of Xavi’s contribution: “We are playing much better than a few months ago. The identity of the club is seen on the field, with many young people. In recent weeks we have taken a step forward and improved in many ways. I’m happy with the performance we’ve given. ” He was mainly referring to the match against Atlético de Madrid at home (4-2) or the home victory a few days ago at Mestalla (1-4), two precedents that Barça want to take to reach the classification against a Napoli who loses Anguissa by sanction in relation to the commitment to go. Spalletti will once again rely on Osimhen’s threat on offense, Koulibaly’s experience on defense and Zielinski and Fabian’s imagination in midfield.
No double goal value
The struggle between Catalans and Neapolitans can only be defeated with the victory of one or the other team, because the double value of goals in the opposite field no longer counts in the European qualifiers. If the tie is maintained after 90 minutes and an overtime, the penalties will decide.
