MADRID (REUTERS) - Barcelona are fully focused on winning La Liga and if possible want to wrap up the title before next week's Champions League semi-final clash with Liverpool, coach Ernesto Valverde said on Monday (April 22).
The Catalans, who are on 77 points and are nine ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid, travel to Alaves on Tuesday.
If they beat Alaves and Atletico Madrid fail to win against fifth-placed Valencia 24 hours later, then Valverde's side will be crowned champions on Wednesday.
"A lot of people ask me if we want to get La Liga boxed off and that's what anyone would want to do," Valverde told a news conference.
"We want to win La Liga, whenever that may be and we'll see if we can get that done.
"It looks easy on paper: a win here, a draw there, we win it on a certain day but we have a lot of good teams to face with a lot to play for and things aren't easy."
Valverde is likely to give winger Ousmane Dembele a run out as he continues to recover from a hamstring injury suffered last month.
"He's not at 100 per cent. He will be getting his rhythm (back) little by little; he brings us a lot of speed and that will come in useful against sides who want to press high as we can use him in the spaces that leaves."
The 55-year-old was curt when asked whether Dembele would replace Philippe Coutinho in the pecking order now that the Frenchman was back from injury.
"Here nobody has gone in front of anybody. Everyone we have here is a great player and while we might have had situations where one has replaced the other one, that kind of thing happens in all clubs," he said.
"Each player is looking for his place and to be in the best shape they can be. In this case, Dembele has played, or Coutinho has played. They can even play together."
Valverde will be without long-term absentee Rafinha for the trip to the Basque country, while Thomas Vermaelen and Samuel Umtiti remain doubts.
Alaves, who are eighth on 46 points, will be without Jonathan Calleri (suspended) and injured trio Guillermo Maripan, Takashi Inui and Jorge Burgui.
The 4 Kinds of Professional Respect: Which Ones Have to Be Earned and Shown? manipulability and forms of respect, the rest being at best a bonus or at worst
What is the adjective for respect? - WordHippo
Two goals from Romelu Lukaku helped Manchester United to a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was looking for a win that could have taken them fourth had it not been for Arsenal's
Crystal Palace 1-3 Manchester United: Romelu Lukaku double
Gotze predicts Borussia Dortmund success in Champions League despite 'very difficult' group. Borussia Dortmund did not make it through the Champions League group stage last term, but Mario Gotze
Bundesliga: Gotze predicts Borussia Dortmund success in
Manchester's homeless in good Kompany LONDON • Vincent Kompany believes that he has a duty to tackle the issue of homelessness in Manchester, which he has called home for the past 10 years. The 32-year-old Manchester City captain earlier this year set up a combined initiative called Tackle4Mcr with Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in a
Vincent Kompany To Donate All Profits From His Testimonial To
Leicester have confirmed the appointment of Brendan Rodgers as successor to Claude Puel, but what are the main challenges he will face at the King Power Stadium? Rodgers' switch from Celtic to
Pochettino wants Spurs players to connect with 'superior energy' maybe they are more cautious or more brave. "You say, 'Oh, this guy is brave'. He's ready to work. And maybe
Pochettino says Spurs need to be 'brave' in their new stadium
Paul Smyth was Northern Ireland's hero after coming off the bench to mark his international debut with the winning goal against World Cup-bound South Korea in Belfast on Saturday. There were just
At Least Eight Reasons Why the Talk of North Korea Leveling
Watford squeeze past QPR into FA Cup last eight | Reuters.com
Suspended Thierry Henry set to lose Monaco job | Sports News
Find West Ham Latest News, Videos & Pictures on West Ham and see latest updates, news, information from NDTV.COM. Explore more on West Ham.
Lacklustre Liverpool slip up again at West Ham - Pulse Nigeria
Chelsea's Olivier Giroud seeks France return to boost game time Out-of-favour striker has not started a Premier League game under manager Maurizio Sarri since arrival of Gonzalo Higuain in January
Soccer: Chelsea's Giroud seeks France return to boost game time
Thierry Henry was suspended by Monaco on Thursday and looked set to lose his job as coach after only three months in charge at the Ligue 1 club.
Thierry Henry set to lose AS Monaco job after being suspended
Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes. during Monday's Euro 2020 qualifier in Podgorica, which England won 5-1. Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes
Kane 'proud' of England response to race jibes
Paul Gascoigne 'can't wait' for train sex assault trial as he's 'done nothing wrong' FORMER England star Paul Gascoigne has told a court how he "can't wait" to face trial over an allegation of sexual assault, insisting: "I have done nothing wrong".
Paul Gascoigne in court: Former England star Gazza denies
Football: Sarri eyes win streak to avoid Chelsea axe
0 comments:
Post a Comment