Laporta: ‘I trust Xavi, the Champions League group stage has become complicated’

Classic time in Spain, Real and Barcelona face off at the Bernabeu. Aside from being the big derby of La Liga, the two teams share the lead with 22 points each.

24 hours before the big game, Blaugrana president Juan Laporta spoke on the team’s official channel and referred to Xavi, stressing that he had his absolute support.

“Our faith and optimism in Xavi remains unshakable. He knows the team, how the club works, he’s an excellent person and coach.

Both the coaching staff and the coach did everything they could to be competitive. We had a difficult group but we got a good result against Bayern. The VAR referee didn’t concede a penalty to Dembele while the referees were scandalous in Milan. We didn’t like the refereeing, that’s obvious, but if we had scored it would have been easier for us.

I took the step I had to take, I spoke to UEFA, but time doesn’t turn back. We should score more goals next time.

Now we’re going to Madrid. We’re first in La Liga. The Bernabeu is one of our favorite games. The goal is La Liga, the group stage has become very complicated

If we continue to be first, we will come out of it much stronger. We have a better system of play and we recognize that Real always fight to the end.”said the President of the Catalans, adding about Lionel Messi:

“Surely we will do something to recognize who was the best player in Barcelona’s history. We remember him. This Sunday marks the 18th anniversary of his debut and we plan to do some things.”

We know he has a successful career. You will definitely see him in Paris for the Golden Ball gala. He’s a Parisian player and we have to respect him. We know his recognition very well. There are many Catalans who continue to wear Leo’s shirt.”