Ernesto Valverde: 'Atletico Madrid start games very strong'

Saturday sees FC Barcelona play one of their biggest games of the season, and coach Ernesto Valverde looked ahead to this meeting with Atletico Madrid (8:45pm CET) in a press conference on Friday.

The approach to the game

“We are two sides who have very clear ways of playing, and each side will do what they do. They usually start very strong, and we will try to dominate.

“We will try to watch out for their counterattacks, as well as their set pieces and their players who run well into space. Atletico Madrid are clear title candidatesand we will try to be at our best to win the game."

Barça's big game form

“We're responding very well in big games, and we hope that this continues tomorrow."

A possible place for Umtiti

"Having another centre back available is positive, but we've also performed very well when we've only had two players available in this position."

"We have a lot of potential and when we exploit this, we're very difficult to beat."