Ernesto Valverde expects Leganés to be 'well-ordered, tactically'

With FC Barcelona heading into its second match in a six-day span on Wednesday night at Leganés, manager Ernesto Valverde appeared before the media to offer his assessment of the team’s current status on the eve of the match, which comes in the wake of Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Girona.

Here are the highlights of what he had to say:

On Leganés:

“These types of teams are always well ordered, especially tactically, and then they play based on what you do.”

“They can surprise you on the counterattack, or on second chances.”

“This year they’ve created pressure up the field at certain times, they did at the Bernabéu against Real Madrid, and they’ve been doing it at home.”

“It’s a team that plays with a lot of enthusiasm, especially at home, and in the games they’ve played there they’ve played well.”

“I think it’s going to be a tough game, because they always are at the Butarque, and in recent seasons it’s been tough to play there because of the way they have performed on their own field.”

“Nobody has it easy there, and so it’s all about competing, and trying to get the three points.”

On the busy schedule at this point in the season:

“Before we played Girona, we wanted to go out and win all three games. The Girona game didn’t allow that to happen, and so our plan now is to win the game that’s up next.”

“If you’re talking about specific names of players who may play, our approach is going to be similar.”

“We have the team and the players to be able to deal with moments like these in the schedule, where there are so many games bunched together.”

“It’s true that we have three tough games in six days. We’ve played one already, and now we are going for the other two.”