FCBARCELONA.CAT

27.09.2009 13:26

Abidal: Win before Europe boosts confidence

Roger Bogunyà

Éric Abidal believes that FC Barcelona's win against Málaga is the perfect tonic ahead of the visit of Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday. "It is always better to win before a Champions League game to give you confidence," he told a press conference.

Looking ahead to the game against the Ukrainian side in midweek, the French defender feels that it will be a difficult game against a team that won their first game against Rubin Kazan. "Dynamo won their opening match and we drew," he continued. "We know that all Champions League games are hard to win but we are preparing well for this one."

One at a time

Barça have started the league campaign by securing a maximum 15 points from their opening five games in the same that Real Madrid have. "Madrid are doing well and we must also not forget that there are other teams just below us that also want to win the league," he explained. "We all have the same mentality here though and that is to take one game at a time. We are only thinking about ourselves and must not look too far ahead."

Ref justice

Abidal repeated those thoughts when asked about referees and their decisions in matches. "Since we are the reigning champions I am sure that referees will not help us much," he commented. "A referee will not help the team with the most quality. But we cannot think about that and we know that if we play well then we will win."