Valverde: "No one is thinking about what happened a year ago"
The Barça coach said that his team aren't feeling the pressure and if they create the same chances they did in the first leg, they'll go through
Ernesto Valverde and his team know what's at stake for their match against Olympique de Lyon. However the hard-faced coach has never been one to let the pressure get to him and claims his team always deliver in the important moments. He's confident that if they perform as well as they did in the first leg, they'll go through.
"The 0-0 in the first leg didn't benefit anybody because when the match starts neither side has qualified. They have their weapons, mainly in attack. They're fast and will look to explode on the counterattack. Knowing how valuable their goals will be, I imagine they'll want to attack," commented Valverde.
In matches such as this one it's hard not to remember the disasterous showing against Roma, although Valverde doesn't think the same. "We aren't worried about what happened a year ago. We've spoken about it enough and dealt with is. We're focused on what happened in the first leg and if we generate the same chances, we'll go through, I'm sure."
When quizzed whether Real Madrid and PSG's eliminations had changed his mind, he said: "It doesn't mean anything to hold an advantage because your rivals are capable of turning it around." And despite the pressure being on FC Barcelona to advance, Valverde fully backs his team to come out on top. "Regardless of how the matches go, they always respond in the difficult moments. This year has proven that too. It's 90 minutes and anything could happen. You can get it right or be killed off."
"After so many matches, the players deal with pressure quite well. We know there are going to be moments such as this. It's there (the pressure), but we're focused on the football side of matters. Of course we're under pressure to go through but we need to focus on the game," admitted Valverde.
However the coach admitted this match, and in particular the Champions League, had a different feel to it. "When you prepare for a Champions League match it's different. It's more important. In LaLiga it's 38 matches but in Europe all the focus is on you and it's special because it's a knockout match. There's a special type of concentration."
Lastly he was asked about the return of Zinedine Zidane to Real Madrid's dugout. "Everyone makes their own decisions and he's made his. I hope we'll face each other again."
