FC Barcelona fans have already turmed their attention towards next weeksa El Clasico against Real Madrid but coach Luis Enrique has asked his players to concentrate on the task at hand first and give their everything in tonighta s game against Eibar.
FC Barcelona are looking in great touch at the moment as they have returned to the top of La Liga. They have now got another chance to extend their lead over Real Madrid as they have a relativey easy task at their hand on this weekend as the Catalans are the favorites to win against Eibar.
But FC Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has asked his players to not to take the challenge of Eibar lightly.
“For me there’s only one game, and that’s the Eibar game,” Luis Enrique assured. “Eibar are dangerous, both because of where we’re playing them and their need for points,” he warned.
a Despite their recent defeats, Eibar are having a good season. They already showed us how tough they are at Camp Nou. Surely, it won’t be easy.”
a They’re hard workers and they’ll make things tough for us.a
a We live in the now. We have to win no matter what to stay in first place.”
a Our mistakes have shown is that nothing is easy. In the games we didn’t win it was because our opponents were good and we weren’t.”
FC Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez is set to make a record 750th appearance for the club on Saturday and Luis Enrique was full of praise for the maestro.
a He is a positive force both on and off the field. He carries enormous weight in the locker room.a
a I want him to fulfil the final year of his contract so he can add to that number.“
Meanwhile, ahead of their game against Eibar, midfielder Ivan Rakitic has called on his team mates to maintain their focus and extend the winning run.
a We respect Eibar and we will prepare it as well as we can.. We know it will be a tough game, they are a good team and played well against us at the Camp Nou, so we know what to expect,a said Rakitic.
Rakitic believes that FC Barcelona will have to perform better to keep winning during the business end of the season.
“Ita s a long season and there are plenty of twists and turns. The hardest part is coming up now, but ita s also the most exciting part! We have to stay focussed and not make any mistakesa
“We are at the best Club in the world. Ita s positive pressure on us and we always go out to wina .