Giráldez: "Tomorrow we have the opportunity to win the League"

FC Barcelona has its first opportunity this Saturday (12 noon, Dazn) to seal the League title, the eighth for the Blaugrana team. To achieve this, they must beat Atlético de Madrid at the Johan Cruyff and wait for Real Madrid not to do so against Betis on Sunday (6pm). Jonatan Giráldez is aware of what is at stake tomorrow: “We have to face it for what it is, the opportunity to win the League. It is true that it does not depend only on us, but it is also a great opportunity to show what competitive level we are at before the Champions League”.

13 points behind second-placed Real Madrid, and with the particular goal average in their favour, Barça begins the countdown to certify a new championship, the eighth in its history. To do this, they must beat Atlético de Madrid, the last rival that has managed to defeat the Blaugrana in the League. It was in June 2021, in an inconsequential match (4-3) with Barça already proclaimed champion.

Barça will play their first ‘match-ball’ of the season against their eternal rival, Atlético de Madrid, in the true classic of the F League. They have faced each other 25 times in the domestic tournament -with 14 victories for Barça, by 3 from Atlético- and of the last six Leagues, three have been for the mattresses (2017, 2018 and 2019) and another three for the blaugrana (2020, 2021 and 2022).

In recent seasons the duel has lost part of its appeal, with an Atlético that has deflated and an intractable Barça that is on its way to repeating the ‘perfect’ League that it achieved last year. In the first leg, the Madrid team was thrashed (1-6) receiving a harsh corrective at home. After a bad start, Atlético dismissed Óscar Fernández and put Manolo Cano on the bench, working with a real revulsion. They have not lost since then –day 13- and have three wins in a row and a creditable draw against Real Madrid that has restored their enthusiasm for fighting for the European places, which they now have just 7 points behind.

“There are more attractive matches each season,” Giráldez assured, highlighting the investment and improvement of the rest of the teams. “This year there are games that we have won by the minimum, it has cost us a lot and that is why we attach great importance to everything we are doing. Winning every game gives us a lot of confidence”, he affirms. That is why the Gallic coach does not believe that ruling the League will condition his performance in the Champions League semifinals against Chelsea next Saturday: “If we win and then we are champions, it will be a motivation. If we win and our rival wins too, we’ll have another chance in two weeks. The important thing is to finish with good feelings”.

Giráldez has recognized that the team arrives “physically at a better time” than last year at the final stretch of the season, in which they lost the Champions League final against Lyon and several players have confessed that they did not arrive well on a physical level. This is partly explained because they arrive with “practically all the players available” and because of the rotations: “We have a squad that allows us a lot of rotations and this will help us get to the most decisive stage in the best way”.

Looking ahead to this weekend, the Blaugrana coach has confirmed that both Mariona Caldentey and Caroline Graham Hansen will be back on the pitch and that there will be little left to see Claudia Pina again. In addition, he has explained that Alexia continues to train with the group and that he has practically completed training with the team.