Rakitic: When Leo says something, the rest of us have to follow

Ivan Rakitic was the Barcelona player chosen to speak to the press before the Champions League semifinal first leg against Liverpool. 

The Croatian midfielder sassured that "to be able to get to the semifinals and to have just won the league the weekend before means we go into the game really happy, with a lot of confidence and a lot of ganas. You can always improve things and we have to learn from previous errors in the competition, but we have to try and enjoy it. The team is really focused." 

Lionel Messi said before the season that Barça's main objective it to win the "beautiful, much desired trophy" in reference to the Champions League. 

"Whenever our captain says something the rest of us follow," Rakitic added. "We are right there with him. Seeing him lift the league trophy [on Saturday] with such happiness, that motivates everyone. If Leo is that happy to win every title, it makes us all even more eager.

"He has won 10 [league] titles in 15 years. If he is that happy to win, what does it say for the rest of us? We are ready. We're Barcelona and we want to win everything and we want to follow the best player in the history of the game." 

Klopp's comments 

Rakitic was also asked about Liverpool coach Jurgen Klopp's pre-match comments. The German said that Camp Nou "is not a temple of football," which has served to heat up the build up. 

"I'm sure Klopp just wanted to take some of the pressure away from his players," Rakitic said. "I respect his option, [but] for me playing at Camp Nou is something different. It's special. It doesn't matter if it's a temple of not.

"It's a different stadium, with a distinct atmosphere and you have to respect that. I wish I could play every game at Camp Nou, with the crowd and atmosphere we have there, but you have to respect everyone's opinion."