Xavi Hernández promises 'valiant' display

Barça face fellow Catalan outfit Girona at the Estadi Olímpic on Sunday and Xavi Hernández is quite aware of the difficulty in store. He lauded the achievements of opposing coach Míchel in his pregame press conference, saying he fully understands why tomorrow's visitors are so high up in the league table.

Praise for Girona

"Girona are surprising a lot of people" he said. "But we aren't surprised at all to see them joint top of the table. They play really well. Míchel is a great coach and their system has a lot in common with our own. We have a difficult opponent to face, whose confidence is sky-high. They'll make it hard for us, but we won't change our approach, we'll be valiant and will take the game to them."

3 out of 3?

After beating both Porto and Atlético Madrid at home, "we are in fine form and we need to keep that good football going. It's really boosted our morale and confidence. We had two huge games to play and tomorrow is another, once again against a direct rival."

Happy with his lot

As for the goalkeeping situation, the coach said "we are fully confident in what we've got. and we're also highly optimistic about Mark [Ter Stegen's] recovery. We have faith in Iñaki Peña and the other keepers we have here. We won't be signing anyone for that position."

João Cancelo, João Feliz and Ilkay Gündoğan were other names that were mentioned, and Xavi is delighted with all three. and says that although it isn't his job, he'd be more than happy to have them at the club for many more years.

And all in all, he's thrilled with the progress the team has made in recent games, and is looking forward to the chance to go and prove an important point in Sunday's derby.