Press conference ahead of the UEFA Champions League’s return after almost 4 months of break as Barcelona hosts Napoli at Camp Nou.
Barcelona’s one of the four captains, Sergio Busquets, and head coach Quique Setién gave a press conference ahead of their game against Napoli tomorrow.
SERGIO BUSQUETS:
About tomorrow’s game:
“We are very positive about the game, I am 100% sure that we are going to score a goal. It will be a good game.”
“There is always room for improvement. For the past two weeks, we have been training well, it has helped us to plan better. We really want to be able to continue in this competition and be in the final eight, but first, we have Napoli, who has a great coach and he is not going to make it easy for us.”
“We do not want to think about the next matches, but we are very fascinated by the thought of playing the final at Lisbon and we are ready to fight for it.”
“We have been able to train much more and that has benefited us. We want to stick to our style of play and score. In the end, goals are the ones that matter the most. “
Setién’s continuity: “If he is going to continue or not, is a decision that should be taken by the club, but it is not something that we worry about at the moment, our focus is on the game against Napoli”
Arthur’s situation:
“Arthur’s situation has been difficult. We are aware of the news that has been circulating, that first he didn’t want to return but now he will return to Barcelona”
“It was a surprise to everyone when Arthur did not return, but the club and Arthur know better about the situation. Let’s hope they reach an agreement soon.”
About Riqui Puig: “Even though he is just 20 years old, he has shown in recent matches that he is ready to play more games with the first team.”
QUIQUE SETIÉN:
Dressing room environment after the break: “The feeling from the last La Liga game was positive, we needed a break because we played many games with a very little gap in between, we had enough time to prepare for this game, and to clean our minds, this has helped us a lot.”
About the starting lineup against Napoli: “Tomorrow’s line-up has already been decided a few days ago, the position of some players may vary, but the line-up has been decided”
His future: “At no time this thought has crossed my mind that tomorrow is my last game, we have prepared the game with the mindset that we are going to continue in the competition.”
If he has a squad to win the Champions League: “It’s always better to have all players available. We cannot rely on all players from the B side. But you have to adapt to the situations and keep working.”
About Arthur: “I spoke with him before he left, I have not spoken to him again, I have heard the news from the club and I would have liked the situation to be different but I can’t say anything else.”
Dembélé’s absence: “We were thinking about the possibility of including him, but unfortunately the training he has been able to do with the group is not sufficient, he is a bit low on confidence and I think that the best decision is not to rush him.”
If anything worries him about Napoli: “We have taken everything into consideration, and we have been assessing the best way to play this game for a long time and we have various approaches, we will change it according to the situation.”
Approach against Napoli: “They have improved a lot since the last game, they have improved in many aspects, they have been improving, Gattuso has given the team a lot of possession-based football, right now he defends very well and knows how to attack and cause harm, we have studied it thoroughly and we will try to minimize that potential.”
About Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig: “These are the two players who are in good condition and they have performed well whenever they were given a chance, they could be starters tomorrow.”
About many homegrown players being in the squad list: “They just played playoffs with Barcelona B team and we have studied their playing style. We have drawn conclusions about what they can contribute to us in case we need it.”
The difference from first-leg: “We have improved many things, we lacked continuity but we have worked on it.”
About what his players need to do against Napoli: “They need to read the moments of the matches and do what is required at all times, choosing these moments well is the important thing, if we are capable of keeping the ball, opponents will have less chance of scoring, we will try to be as defensive as we can when the opponent has the ball, the important thing is to understand the moments.”
Style of play: “The style of play and Barcelona DNA has not been lost, since my arrival, I have tried to bring some things which I thought the team needed during that time.”
Psychological aspect: “We try to work on everything, we talk to the players to prepare them well for the important matches like this, everyone in the squad is already motivated.”
