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15.04.2008 14:39
Abidal: “The aim is to win every match”
Roger Bogunyà
The Barça full back has admitted that it will be harder to win La Liga than the Champions League, but that the team hopes to win every game they have left and also admitted that he has not been happy with his personal performances in recent matches.
The Frenchman said that although Madrid have built up a healthy lead, “we like to compete and we always want to finish first.” Abidal believes “the aim is to win every match” and amass points in the hope that Madrid drop some. “I feel confident about the league” he optimistically added.
Improvements at the back
One of the reasons Madrid have sneaked an advantage is because Barça are letting in too many silly goals. “There is no explanation” he said. “But we are letting in more goals. We’ll try to sort things out, because it’s disappointing to see how we keep going ahead and then let in goals” before adding that he suspects there must be “a psychological aspect” that has meant the defensive record is nothing like it was at the start of the season.
Tough in Champions League
Turning to Europe, Abidal is aware that it will be difficult
to win the Champions League but “we aren’t far away from doing it.” Always the
optimist, he has noted that team generally brings out the best for these games and feels the
players seem to respond better to the demands of that competition.
Danger of Ronaldo
To win the Champions League, they will need to beat Manchester United in the semi finals, where Cristiano Ronaldo is the big star. Abidal, who already came up against the Portuguese international when wearing the Lyon shirt said “he has enormous quality … we have to stop him from getting the ball and turning to attack”.
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Unhappy with form
Sincere as ever, Éric Abidal has confessed that his performances in recent matches have been
“unsatisfactory. I try to be at 100% because I don’t want to let the team down at such
an important stage at the end of the season, and if I don’t think I am up to the level
required it is my obligation to tell the boss that I shouldn’t play.”
The Frenchman said he didn’t want to make excuses but “there has been a change, they do things differently here to what we did at Lyon. There is a psychological component, other customs, and most of all, the kick off times, and I still haven’t fully adapted. I managed better before, but playing at 10 at night, when in France all games have finished by that time, is something that has affected me”. But he was forced to add that “anything is possible to get performing better”.
The Frenchman said he didn’t want to make excuses but “there has been a change, they do things differently here to what we did at Lyon. There is a psychological component, other customs, and most of all, the kick off times, and I still haven’t fully adapted. I managed better before, but playing at 10 at night, when in France all games have finished by that time, is something that has affected me”. But he was forced to add that “anything is possible to get performing better”.
