Zidane: Neymar-less Blaugrana not the weakest Barca
Zinedine Zidane rejected the suggestion Real Madrid will be taking on
the weakest Barcelona side he has faced in the Supercopa de Espana
following the departure of Neymar.
Madrid visit Camp Nou on Sunday
for the first leg of the Spanish season's curtain raiser looking to add
to the UEFA Super Cup title they won by beating Manchester United 2-1
this week.
It marks the first meeting between the two Clasico
rivals since Neymar's stunning world-record transfer to Ligue 1 side
Paris Saint-Germain, who paid EUR220million to take the Brazilian to the
Parc des Princes.
Despite the breakup of Barcelona's fabled MSN
forward line, Zidane is still expecting a typically imposing challenge
from Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Co. in what will be Ernesto
Valverde's first taste of a competitive Clasico as Barca coach.
But
asked if this is the worst Barca side he has gone up against in his
pre-match media conference, Zidane replied: "Not at all. The opposite.
They're a club in the process of changing but Barcelona is Barcelona.
"Nothing is going to change there. If we think it's going to be easier [without Neymar] then we're wrong.
"Whoever
is going to play instead of Neymar he will do it well. I'm not really
too worried about whether Neymar is there or not."
Cristiano
Ronaldo played just seven minutes in the victory over United as he made
his return having missed Madrid's pre-season preparations as he was
given an extended break after his exertions for Portugal in the
Confederations Cup.
"We're all fit, healthy, physically we're in
good condition. Everyone wants to play. I'm going to have to make some
decisions," he added.
"Cristiano is ready, he's in great shape,
he's been with us five or six days, he's been working hard on his
holidays and he's ready to play."
No comments:
Post a Comment