FCBARCELONA.CAT

04.04.2007 14:11

“Whoever withstands the pressure best will be champion”

Barça, Sevilla, Real Madrid or Valencia. With just ten matches left to go in La Liga, these four teams are all in with a chance of lifting the league title and, according to Xavi Hernández, it’s all about keeping your nerve.

With 56 points and a two-point lead over second placed Sevilla, Xavi knows that Barça depend on nobody but themselves to take a third consecutive league title. However, with Real Madrid and Valencia just five and six points behind respectively, he believes a major factor will be nerves: “Whoever withstands the pressure best will be champion”.

Xavi also reminded reporters at today’s press conference that, unlike Barça, our three main rivals will all have to play each: “Whoever withstands the pressure best over the next four or five matches will have gained a lot of ground”.

Sevilla the main danger

According to Xavi, the main obstacle in the run-in for the league title is Sevilla: “They’re the closest team to us [and] they’re in the best form”. However, he also stressed that the players could not afford to take their eyes off the other two: “The teams below Sevilla are also very close”.

Zaragoza v Barça

Barça’s first match of the league run-in is Saturday’s clash with Zaragoza in the Romareda Stadium: “Zaragoza has some great players in their squad, such as Sergio Garcia, Milito, de Alessandro and Aimar, all of them top class players. We’ve also got a great squad”. All in all, Xavi is convinced that with so much footballing talent on display, Saturday’s match will be “very attractive”.

League and Cup double

Asked about the transfer rumours flying around, as always, at this stage of the season, Xavi was explicit: “We can’t do anything. It’s something that happens every year. I suppose the coaching staff are already working on this but it’s our job as players to focus on winning the two titles we have at stake, that is the league and the Cup. Possible signings won’t do that for us this season”.