Barcelona’s Luis Suárez worries Bayern Munich, admits Pepe Reina
• Reina: ’Suárez is always on the edge, pushing, he’s a born winner’
• ‘We’re talking a lot about Suárez, but he not our only worry’
• Xavi set to play final his European match at the Camp Nou
• ‘We’re talking a lot about Suárez, but he not our only worry’
• Xavi set to play final his European match at the Camp Nou
Luis
Suárez left the pitch at Córdoba’s Estadio Nuevo Arcángel on Saturday
afternoon with the match ball under his arm following an 8-0 victory
that kept Barcelona top of the league table and said that it was “time
to think about Bayern Munich” in the Champions League. Bayern Munich
were already thinking about him, his former Liverpool team-mate Pepe
Reina, the Bavarians’ back-up goalkeeper, describing Suárez as a “street
player” whose personality has been fundamental to his success.
Meanwhile, the Bayern midfielder Javi Martínez has paid tribute to Xavi, for whom Wednesday night is likely to be his 155th Champions League game, and his last at the Camp Nou. At the end of the season the 35-year-old world and double European champion with Spain and three times European Cup winner with Barcelona is expected to walk away; the next month will decide if he does so with 25 major trophies or whether he can add to that total.
“For Spanish football, for us, it has been a joy to have him,” said Martínez, who played with Xavi for Spain. “I don’t know if it is official yet [that he will go], but it is a pity that players like him have to grow old. And with the quality that Xavi has, he could play until he is 50.”
Xavi is in his 17th season in Barcelona’s first team; Suárez is in his first, at 28. Reina said the only surprise was that it has taken this long for the Uruguay striker to join one of the game’s super-clubs. Others have been surprised at how impressive he has been after a difficult start, which was delayed for three months by the Fifa ban that also means he will miss the summer’s Copa América in Chile, prompting Reina to note: “It’s football that misses out. The rules are what they are but a player like Luis Suárez is someone you want to see out on the pitch.”
Suárez’s first hat-trick as a Barcelona player on Saturday took him to 24 goals in all competitions and 16 in the league, 15 of those in 2015. He has provided 18 assists in total and scored twice at the Etihad against Manchester City and twice at the Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain. Any doubts about his role and whether he could integrate alongside Leo Messi and Neymar have gone, with much made of his work-rate and lack of selfishness. The trio have scored 108 goals between them.
“Luis deserves it, he has fought for it,” Reina said. “He has had incredible seasons everywhere he has been [at Nacional, Groningen, Ajax and Liverpool] and because of that, because he performed year after year, he got the move to a huge club. Maybe it took longer than it should have, because he has deserved it for a long time.”
Reina continued: “He’s the kind of player that I especially like. He’s a ‘street’ player and I mean that as a eulogy. He’s alive, he’s always on the edge, pushing, he’s a born winner. In every training session at Liverpool, I wanted to be on his team, always. He always gritted his teeth, he never, ever gave anything up for lost. I think that’s a huge part of the reason that he is the player he is today.
“He finishes very well. He can produce a play in very little space, doing the kind of moves that only he would even think of. And beyond [enjoying] his talents as a player, I consider myself lucky to have been able to get to know Luis as a person. It’s not just at Barcelona; I think wherever he goes he will build good relationships with his team-mates because that’s the kind of person he is, and that helps you to settle and integrate.
“But,” Reina said, “we’re talking a lot about Suárez and he’s not the only one that worries us; there are others.”
Such as Messi, for example? “That guy’s not bad, either,” Reina replied.
Real Madrid defender Pepe said he was relishing the prospect of a battle
against Juventus forward Carlos Tevez when the sides meet in Tuesday's
Champions League semifinal.
Tevez has been revitalised since his move to Juventus two years ago and the battle between the feisty Argentine and the notoriously volatile Portugal defender promises to be one of the highlights of the first leg.
"Tevez is a top quality player, who likes to fight for the ball and battles a lot on pitch, and I enjoy it when it's like that," Pepe told reporters on Monday.
Vilified for his red card against Germany at the World Cup, Pepe has yet to be sent off this season, which critics say is a sign that the 32-year-old has mellowed and matured under the leadership of coach Carlo Ancelotti.
"It's a privilege to learn from Carlo Ancelotti every day. He knows exactly what the players need," said Pepe who smiled his way through the press conference.
"He teaches you a lot both as a player and as a person."
Ancelotti promised that his team would come to attack and said he had no regrets about his unhappy two year spell at Juventus.
"The important thing is try to play as well as possible, using and showing the quality we have," he said.
"This team can show our quality by attacking, we will prepare to play on the attack in this game...but we have to defend better than we have recently.
"It's a good moment for us. We had a few problems in January and February, when we were a bit down, but the team is confident and we have replaced the injured players really well," he added.
"I coached here for two years and got on very well with part of the fans and the club. I learned a lot but I had a problem with some fans, but what can I say? The years I spent here have helped me to improve as a coach."
He played down the absence of forward Karim Benzema who has not recovered sufficiently from a knee injury.
"The difficulty is when you don't have good movement, with and without the ball.... the movement of the team, rhythm of the team, that is what makes the difference."
Meanwhile, the Bayern midfielder Javi Martínez has paid tribute to Xavi, for whom Wednesday night is likely to be his 155th Champions League game, and his last at the Camp Nou. At the end of the season the 35-year-old world and double European champion with Spain and three times European Cup winner with Barcelona is expected to walk away; the next month will decide if he does so with 25 major trophies or whether he can add to that total.
“For Spanish football, for us, it has been a joy to have him,” said Martínez, who played with Xavi for Spain. “I don’t know if it is official yet [that he will go], but it is a pity that players like him have to grow old. And with the quality that Xavi has, he could play until he is 50.”
Xavi is in his 17th season in Barcelona’s first team; Suárez is in his first, at 28. Reina said the only surprise was that it has taken this long for the Uruguay striker to join one of the game’s super-clubs. Others have been surprised at how impressive he has been after a difficult start, which was delayed for three months by the Fifa ban that also means he will miss the summer’s Copa América in Chile, prompting Reina to note: “It’s football that misses out. The rules are what they are but a player like Luis Suárez is someone you want to see out on the pitch.”
Suárez’s first hat-trick as a Barcelona player on Saturday took him to 24 goals in all competitions and 16 in the league, 15 of those in 2015. He has provided 18 assists in total and scored twice at the Etihad against Manchester City and twice at the Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain. Any doubts about his role and whether he could integrate alongside Leo Messi and Neymar have gone, with much made of his work-rate and lack of selfishness. The trio have scored 108 goals between them.
“Luis deserves it, he has fought for it,” Reina said. “He has had incredible seasons everywhere he has been [at Nacional, Groningen, Ajax and Liverpool] and because of that, because he performed year after year, he got the move to a huge club. Maybe it took longer than it should have, because he has deserved it for a long time.”
Reina continued: “He’s the kind of player that I especially like. He’s a ‘street’ player and I mean that as a eulogy. He’s alive, he’s always on the edge, pushing, he’s a born winner. In every training session at Liverpool, I wanted to be on his team, always. He always gritted his teeth, he never, ever gave anything up for lost. I think that’s a huge part of the reason that he is the player he is today.
“He finishes very well. He can produce a play in very little space, doing the kind of moves that only he would even think of. And beyond [enjoying] his talents as a player, I consider myself lucky to have been able to get to know Luis as a person. It’s not just at Barcelona; I think wherever he goes he will build good relationships with his team-mates because that’s the kind of person he is, and that helps you to settle and integrate.
“But,” Reina said, “we’re talking a lot about Suárez and he’s not the only one that worries us; there are others.”
Such as Messi, for example? “That guy’s not bad, either,” Reina replied.
AS REAL MADRID CLASH WITH JUVENTUS,
Tevez has been revitalised since his move to Juventus two years ago and the battle between the feisty Argentine and the notoriously volatile Portugal defender promises to be one of the highlights of the first leg.
"Tevez is a top quality player, who likes to fight for the ball and battles a lot on pitch, and I enjoy it when it's like that," Pepe told reporters on Monday.
Vilified for his red card against Germany at the World Cup, Pepe has yet to be sent off this season, which critics say is a sign that the 32-year-old has mellowed and matured under the leadership of coach Carlo Ancelotti.
"It's a privilege to learn from Carlo Ancelotti every day. He knows exactly what the players need," said Pepe who smiled his way through the press conference.
"He teaches you a lot both as a player and as a person."
Ancelotti promised that his team would come to attack and said he had no regrets about his unhappy two year spell at Juventus.
"The important thing is try to play as well as possible, using and showing the quality we have," he said.
"This team can show our quality by attacking, we will prepare to play on the attack in this game...but we have to defend better than we have recently.
"It's a good moment for us. We had a few problems in January and February, when we were a bit down, but the team is confident and we have replaced the injured players really well," he added.
"I coached here for two years and got on very well with part of the fans and the club. I learned a lot but I had a problem with some fans, but what can I say? The years I spent here have helped me to improve as a coach."
He played down the absence of forward Karim Benzema who has not recovered sufficiently from a knee injury.
"The difficulty is when you don't have good movement, with and without the ball.... the movement of the team, rhythm of the team, that is what makes the difference."
On a similar note,Real Madrid coach Carlos Ancelotti has brushed off suggestions Juventus
will be easy opponents when the sides meet on Tuesday in the first leg
of their Champions League semifinal in Turin.
Real are widely expected to cruise to this year's final in Berlin having
claimed a record 10th title last year with a 4-1 hammering of city
rivals Atletico Madrid.
But Ancelotti, who coached Juventus for two largely fruitless seasons at the start of his coaching career, believes the Turin giants have not reached the last four by chance.
"If you get to the semifinal it means you deserve it. There's only four teams in it now and we all have the chance to win it," Ancelotti told reporters at Juventus Stadium on Monday.
"This is the Cup of champions – who dares wins and who is fearful loses."
Real, who will be without injured France striker Karim Benzema, and Juventus have met a total of 16 times in Europe and between them have played in 20 European Cup finals.
The major difference is, Real have won 10 trophies in the competition while Juventus have won only two of the Champions League finals in which they appeared, in 1996 and 1985, finishing runners-up five times.
Having secured their 31st Serie A title on Saturday thanks to a 1-0 win at Sampdoria, Massimiliano Allegri's men remain on course for a treble of trophies this season.
And Ancelotti said the Spanish giants, who drew 2-2 with Juventus on their last visit to Turin in last season's group stages, would not be taking anything for granted.
Ancelotti added: "Allegri has done some great work and added some balance to a team that had already achieved great things.
"They won the league last Saturday and so they're playing with confidence right now. They also have really good players – that is the strength of this team.
"Juve have a good record in Europe, so from this point of view it won't be easy."
While missing the firepower of Benzema, Ancelotti has confirmed that Welsh winger Gareth Bale is fully fit following his recent recovery from a calf problem.
Bale played the last half hour in a 3-2 win over Sevilla at the weekend, where a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo kept Ancelotti's men within touching distance of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
"Bale is 100 percent and will play," confirmed Ancelotti, who also insisted Real have gotten over an uncertain spell earlier this year.
"We had some minor problems in January and February but right now the team is doing well, the players are confident."
Real remain in contention to become the first team to claim successive Champions League titles, Milan having last achieved the feat while it was still known as the European Cup, in 1990.
Ancelotti added: "Our motivation comes from trying to be competitive in all competitions. We have the chance to win a second successive Champions League – nobody has had the opportunity to achieve this.
"We are really close to another final and we'll try to do our best."
But Ancelotti, who coached Juventus for two largely fruitless seasons at the start of his coaching career, believes the Turin giants have not reached the last four by chance.
"If you get to the semifinal it means you deserve it. There's only four teams in it now and we all have the chance to win it," Ancelotti told reporters at Juventus Stadium on Monday.
"This is the Cup of champions – who dares wins and who is fearful loses."
Real, who will be without injured France striker Karim Benzema, and Juventus have met a total of 16 times in Europe and between them have played in 20 European Cup finals.
The major difference is, Real have won 10 trophies in the competition while Juventus have won only two of the Champions League finals in which they appeared, in 1996 and 1985, finishing runners-up five times.
Having secured their 31st Serie A title on Saturday thanks to a 1-0 win at Sampdoria, Massimiliano Allegri's men remain on course for a treble of trophies this season.
And Ancelotti said the Spanish giants, who drew 2-2 with Juventus on their last visit to Turin in last season's group stages, would not be taking anything for granted.
Ancelotti added: "Allegri has done some great work and added some balance to a team that had already achieved great things.
"They won the league last Saturday and so they're playing with confidence right now. They also have really good players – that is the strength of this team.
"Juve have a good record in Europe, so from this point of view it won't be easy."
While missing the firepower of Benzema, Ancelotti has confirmed that Welsh winger Gareth Bale is fully fit following his recent recovery from a calf problem.
Bale played the last half hour in a 3-2 win over Sevilla at the weekend, where a hat-trick from Cristiano Ronaldo kept Ancelotti's men within touching distance of La Liga leaders Barcelona.
"Bale is 100 percent and will play," confirmed Ancelotti, who also insisted Real have gotten over an uncertain spell earlier this year.
"We had some minor problems in January and February but right now the team is doing well, the players are confident."
Real remain in contention to become the first team to claim successive Champions League titles, Milan having last achieved the feat while it was still known as the European Cup, in 1990.
Ancelotti added: "Our motivation comes from trying to be competitive in all competitions. We have the chance to win a second successive Champions League – nobody has had the opportunity to achieve this.
"We are really close to another final and we'll try to do our best."
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