Jordi Alba talks ahead of Barcelona vs Benfica

Jordi Alba accompanied Xavi Hernandez to the pre-game press conference ahead of Barcelona’s clash against Benfica. The Blaugranas lost the previous encounter against the Portuguese side 3-0 and now are in a must-win situation to avoid a knockout game in Munich.

Alba spoke about the new manager, his methodologies, and the mentality heading into tomorrow’s game.

Speaking about the derby clash earlier in the week, Alba said it gave the team a lot of confidence. He added that the upcoming clash was decisive and fans would be crucial.

“The derby gave us a lot of confidence. We deserved to win, we suffered, but the feelings are very good. Tomorrow is a final and we have to take advantage of playing in front of our fans.”

Speaking about Xavi as the new manager, the left-back said that he was convinced that the change in coach would benefit the team.

“I have a huge respect for Xavi, as a coach and as a friend. He will help us. It has already been seen this week that the team has changed.

“Xavi has put a lot of emphasis on having talks with the players, he wanted to know everyone’s opinion.”

The strict rules enforced on the players has been a hot topic of discussion over the past few weeks. Alba played down the hype and said it was nomal.

“I think it’s normal for a group to have rules, whatever you want to call it- Order. I think everyone is responsible for what they do and it will surely help us a lot.”

Barcelona lost the reverse fixture against Benfica by a three-goal margin. The defender was asked to comment on that, to which he replied: “We had many chances to score and we didn’t play so badly as to end up losing 3-0. We have to look at it as a revenge match.”

Source: Barça TV+