BARÇA BOSS ON CUP FINAL VENUE
Luis Enrique on Springsteen: "We won't be able to go, then"
Speaking on Tuesday, the Barça coach also looked ahead to his side's postponed week 16 La Liga clash with Sporting Gijón (Wednesday, 18:30 CET).
Match: "We're playing the game we had in hand because of the Club World Cup, and it's an opportunity to increase the gap over our direct rivals. It won't be an easy match."
Sporting Gijón: "They're a really well-drilled side, with a solid defence that's the springboard from which they go on the attack. And they play at a stadium that always has a wonderful atmosphere."
Returning to face his hometown club: "I've been a club member since I was a kid and watched their games at the ground, with a flag made by my mum. Whenever I go back to El Molinón it's special. But I'm going there as Barça coach and the objective is always the same. We're going there out to win three crucial points."
Relationship with Sporting boss Abelardo Fernández: "We’ve been great friends since we were seven years old. He's a very important person in my life, as are his family."
Abelardo: "I haven't seen him at close quarters as a coach, but what I have witnessed are his achievements. This year his side are well capable of staying up, and last season he took up a team that weren't among the best in their division."
Giant stride towards winning the league: "A victory would be a great result for our title aims, but it would by no means be a decisive one."
Alen Halilovic, on loan at Sporting from Barça: "He's getting the playing time in the top flight we'd been looking for him to get."
Bruce Springsteen at the Bernabéu on the same day as the Copa final: "We won't be able to go to the concert, then."
Barcelona's 30-game unbeaten sequence: "I hope the run doesn't end, but if it has to come to an end then let it be at El Molinón."