FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.04.2009 18:53

Abidal glad to be back

Anna Segura

Last Saturday he was given the green light from Club doctors to return to action after a month and a half injury layoff. Three days later he played the 90 minutes of the CL match against Bayern Munich. A great way to build confidence.

Eric Abidal had to wait a full 52 days to play that game in the Allianz Arena (1-1). Previously he had been named as a sub against Recreativo de Huelva and Josep Guardiola believed that the match against Bayern Munich, with a 4-0 advantage from the first leg, was the ideal opportunity for the French international to ease himself back.

Cautious

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Eric Abidal revealed that he is feeling good “but a little afraid of picking up another injury”. However, he believes this will be temporary and that “slowly and taking things easy” he will play “again with confidence”.

Friendship with Ribéry

Another plus for Abidal in Munich was the chance to meet up with Franck Ribéry, a friend and team-mate from the France international team. Asked by reporters about a possible move for Ribéry to FC Barcelona, Abidal was uncommitted: “He’s someone I know well but I don’t know what he wants to do next year. We talked about non-sporting matters”.

Ribéry could fit in

However, Abidal admitted that he would like to see Ribéry at Barça: “It would be good if he could come here. I believe he could adapt. He’s got quality and he saw that against Barça it was difficult to have the ball, and what he likes is to have it”.

Objective: the league

Rather than focus on the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, Abidal believes it’s necessary to concentrate on “three very important league matches (and) keep building on the run of good results”. In particular he is determined to get a good result against Getafe, something he is convinced will be important in the hunt for the league title.