Setién: "Messi is fine"
Barcelona's coach told Movistar that he hopes to count on the Argentinean for the Mallorca game: "He's in perfect shape and won't have any problems playing".
After chatting to the club's media department this afternoon, Quique Setién gave a brief interview to Vamos' El Partidazo programme to preview the restart of LaLiga.
Nerves: "There's always a certain amount of pre-match jitters. Returning to full competition is what really matters right now and especially under this new set of special circumstances. There's always a bit of uncertainty, apprehension, but we can't wait for it all to start up again. Although we have liked to have had more time training with the full squad".
Messi: "There were other players who have missed training. As a precaution, like with quite a few of the others, he has a sprain and it's nothing serious. He's in perfect shape and won;t have any problems playing".
Will Messi be able to play every minute of all of the remaining games? "He's in the same position as everyone else. We will have to look at what the team needs, what the circumstances are and bearing in mind that we don't have a bid squad. Obviously I'd rather have Messi always out on the pitch, but we'll see how it all turns out".
How is Luis Suárez? "He's one of the doubts we have right now. He's actually very well. He's managed to withstand the rigours of full training, he's in pretty good shape - much better than we'd hoped. The doubt we have is that there is always a bit of uncertainty when a player has undergone an operation. We'll see how he gets on this week before deciding whether he can start or come on later as a sub".
No problem playing behind closed doors
How have you been preparing the team to play in empty stadiums? "Once I had to play a game behind closed doors and it doesn't really affect you that much. Once you're out on the pitch, you're focused on the game. In some ways you notice it's different but we hope it won't affect our game or hat we have to do. It's the same for every team - we're all going into the unknown. It'll be a nit strange".
Madrid will be playing their league games at the Di Stéfano. It won't be the same for their rivals as playing at the Bernabéu... "I've no idea what it will be like - whether it will could influence Madrid or their rivals. We'll get a clearer idea once we are a few games in. I can't predict what might happen".
Are you keen for Rakitic to stay at Barça? "I want all of the players who are under contract here to comply with what we ask of them - not just Rakitic, everyone. We are going to need all of the players to achieve our objective".