FCBARCELONA.CAT

31.03.2008 20:30

Rijkaard: “We don’t want to play their physical game”

Roger Bogunyà (enviat especial)

Frank Rijkaard knows that Schalke is a tough side who can play a physical game. So he is determined that Barça won’t play into the Germans’ hands but instead will stick to the more technical game which they are used to.

Rijkaard freely accepted that “there are other sides that are better prepared physically than we are” which means that Barça doesn’t want to get into a physical confrontation with Schalke. “We don’t want to play their physical game. We have to play in the way that we know we can and to our strengths,” he said. He added that in his view Schalke is a “good side that is collectively strong and they’ll be hard to beat.”

Criticism motivates

Talking about Barça’s last match when they went down 3-2 to Betis, Frank Rijkaard said that “losing that way was tough”. He also made it clear that he understands why fans are criticising the team and thinks that that should be “added motivation” for Tuesday’s match in Gelsenkirchen.

Moving on

Rijkaard also said that “constantly thinking about things that have gone wrong doesn’t help” and that the team has to move on and forget about last Saturday’s defeat in Seville. “We have to keep on working and being enthusiastic and confident as we always are,” said Rijkaard, who was very calm throughout the press conference.

The game is the most important thing

Asked if he would resign if the team loses, Rijkaard made it clear that “this is not the time to be talking about things like that. We’re here because we’ve got a game to play and going into issues like that is not a good idea. The game is the most important thing.” Rijkaard thinks that the best way of approaching this match is “to continue working and trying as always to do what we have to do, get a good result and play well.”