'I don't know if I'll have a coffee with Zidane if I bump into him at the hotel'

In the busy press room at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, Ernesto Valverde spoke to the media ahead of Wednesday's Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid. 

The game is drawing more attention than usual after being called off the first time round due to security problems. Therefore, the journalists present didn't want to miss the chance to find out Valverde's thoughts on the issues surrounding the fixture.  

Barça welcome a Real Madrid team in good form. They earned a point in their last game with a late equaliser from Karim Benzema in stoppage time. 

One of the anecdotes of the press conference came when Valverde was asked how he would react if he bumped into Zinedine Zidane at the hotel where both teams will spend the afternoon before the match. 

"I don't know what we will do if we meet in the hotel," he said. "I don't know if we will have a coffee or whatnot, but I doubt it will happen." 

Another issue that came up was the rest time. Madrid go into the game having played on Sunday against Valencia, while Barça have had an extra day to prepare after playing at Real Sociedad on Saturday. 

"I remember that a couple of months ago it was who had less rest and with the change of date, not it's them," the Barça coach said. "I think that, for teams at this level, it should not be a factor. Remember that last season we played a Clasico at the Bernabeu on Wednesday and then again on Saturday." 

On the VAR controversy which surrounded the draw with Real Sociedad, Valverde commented that "we think that if the referee had revised the incident it could have been a penalty, but I don't want to get into all that."