Mascherano: “The best way for us to keep our lead over the other teams is to focus on our own work”

Javier Mascherano spoke to the media this lunchtime and he was quick to praise his fellow countryman Leo Messi: “he is on his way to becoming a legend. He’s only 25 and he’s already done things nobody has ever achieved before in the history of the game”. Mascherano also insisted: “the most important part of the season is coming up now and it’s when things begin to get sorted out. We don’t need to change anything from what we have been doing since the start of the season – it’s in our hands and it’s down to us”.
One of the things Mascherano most values at the Club is the unity in the squad: “we all feel part of it and the coach can be certain that whoever plays, we are all well prepared. The most important thing is the attitude and the role that everyone plays. When the team is clear about everyone’s function in the team and we all do our job well, everything goes so smoothly”.

Best team

Javier Mascherano has plenty of experience at big clubs such as River Plate, Corinthians and Liverpool, but he believes Barça is the best team he’s ever been involved in: “I’ve been lucky to play at big clubs, but with all respect, there is no comparison with Barça. This is the best team I’ve ever been in”. Looking forward to the immediate future and the three games against Malaga, Mascherano reckons: “there are no teams who we don’t know. Playing against the same team three times in ten days could be an issue – we’ll see what happens with the results”.

With Tito Vilanova absent on Thursday, Mascherano was adamant: “there is nothing positive about Tito not being with us, but it’s just a personal matter about his illness and his recovery and the best way to do that is to leave him in peace. We just want to have him back well and for him to do what he needs to get better”.

Mascherano also commented on the state of the Camp Nou pitch, revealing: “it’s a great advantage for us that the pitch is so fast. If the ball moves quickly, we have more options. What we want is to play football well”.