CLÁSICO
Valverde: "I want to play El Clásico at home, my players too"
Valverde wants the Clásico to be played at Camp Nou and says they have a game on Wednesday in Prague which they have to come back and recover from.
Ernesto Valverde, Barcelona's manager, spoke on Thursday ahead of his side's game against Eibar in the midst of a debate about where the Clásico will be played the weekend after.
"We have a game on Wednesday in Prague and we have to come back," he said. "Also, you have to respect the fixtures and the fans. The normal thing to do is to play in our own stadium. We will see what happens. We know that this week has been strange but we are confident that we will play the game in our stadium. That's what we want."
Barcelona had to play a game behind closed doors after the election that caused the current situation. There was unrest in the city then and Barcelona asked for the game against Las Palmas in 2017 to be changed but LaLiga rejected their request. Valverde was asked as to whether it was logical to change the game after Barcelona were rejected before.
"I repeat," he said. "There are nine days to go before the game and there is too much talking. On 1 October [2017 against Las Palmas] we played and the next game at the Wanda, everyone expected a dramatic game and the world to end. Everyone expressed their ideas and there was no problem. We hope for the same here. There are still nine days."
Asked who benefits, Valverde said: "I don't know. We will wait and see. We play on Wednesday and them on Tuesday. If it comes down to a matter of rest, it could help us to not play. But the games are the way they are. I want the game to be played at Camp Nou and the players do too."