"Barça only thinking about Deportivo, not Clasico against Madrid"
Valverde knows the importance of Sunday's game
The Clasico against Real Madrid can wait for now
Ernesto Valverde insists Barcelona will not become distracted by next weekend's Clasico, with his focus instead on Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.
Barça travel to Madrid next Saturday in one of football's most eagerly anticipated fixtures, but first have an important home game in La Liga.
"Out objective is to win tomorrow against Deportivo," Valverde said on Saturday. "There is no point thinking about next week’s game when have tomorrow's game first.
"We are focused on Depor, then we will turn to the net game, which as it should happen is the Clasico against Madrid. But looking back at the Celta game, there are no guaranteed wins at Camp Nou. Tomorrow is important."
Pressed on if the Clasico was on his players' minds, he added: "No, the Clasico not affecting players.
"They’re worried about tomorrow’s game. We know we have a week after to think about the Clasico, so by no means are we distracted by the Clasico."
League leaders Barça can move 11 points clear of Madrid on Sunday with Zinedine Zidane's side not playing this weekend due to their participation in the Club World Cup.
