Seydou Keita has said that the team will be looking to get the three points at Cornellà-El Prat as they always do, despite being aware that Espanyol have a strong side. “They have almost everything”, he said.
Three days before the derby away to Espanyol, Seydou Keita has spoken about his feelings in the
build-up. He claims they are approaching the game like any other. “There is no special
desire. We’ll go out to win as we always do” he said.
But he does know that “all games against Espanyol have been difficult. It’s
normal, it’s a derby, their ground is juts two kilometres away … but it’s nothing
special for us, we always go out to win matches and we’ll do that on Saturday too”.
Hard opponent
The Malian, who is just recovering from a knee injury, is aware that the
blue and whites have been having a good season. “They have a good team, they’re very
strong, and it’s very hard to play in front of their fans … they play very physically,
very aggressively, and play well. That’s why it’s so hard, because they have got almost
everything … a derby is always difficult, there’s a lot of rivalry and they’ll be
doing everything they can to win. It won’t be easy for us, but it won’t be for them
either”.
Everything going right
Espanyol are in good form, and are currently fourth, but Barça are top
and playing extraordinary football. “We are in a good moment, everything is going right for
us” he said. “I’ve been able to see that from the bench and the team’s
playing very well.” But he doesn’t think they are favourites in the derby. “We
are playing away, at a difficult ground … we’ll have to play well to win, because we
don’t know how to play football any other way”.
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Happy for Mazembe
Seydou Keita also spoke about Mazembe’s historic qualification for the Clubs World Cup Final.
“I am very happy about that. It’s great for African football. I hope they win the
final, for Africa and for African football”.
Keita is also pleased with Barça’s deal with the Qatar Foundation. “If the club
decided that, then it’s good. It doesn’t matter that it’s a Muslim country. I am
Muslim and I’ve never had a problem here, respect is what matters” he said.