Gavi Praises Alonso, But Emphasizes Barça’s Strength.

The rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will have some new faces next season. While Los Blancos had to deal with Hansi Flick’s arrival last season, La Blaugrana will now have to deal with Xabi Alonso. For Barcelona, it will be a different test than what they faced last season.

Having arrived from Bayer Leverkusen, the Spanish coach is someone who knows both Real Madrid and Barcelona well. Having played for the Madrid-based side against Barça over many years during his playing days, Alonso knows everything about the rivalry.

Xabi Alonso’s Arrival and Real Madrid’s Ambitious Summer Reinforcements
Xabi Alonso’s appointment marks a new era for Real Madrid, one backed by a string of impressive summer signings. With the club strengthening key areas of their squad, expectations are high that Alonso can deliver immediate success.

Recently, however, Barcelona star Gavi was asked to give his input on the new Real Madrid coach as well in a recent interview with RAC1. As quoted by Mundo Deportivo, he praised the Spaniard and his team but remained adamant that the Catalan side has to remain focused on itself:

He’s a great coach. He proved that at Bayer Leverkusen. They have a really good team and signed good players. But we need to focus on ourselves.

By choosing to focus on Barça, instead, Gavi claimed that his team also has a great squad and it just needs to focus on itself moving forward:

We have a great squad and have to concentrate on our own journey, take it game by game, and see what happens. I don’t want to focus on them. We do our thing and aim to win every game we play.

Following their convincing victory over FC Seoul, Gavi and Barcelona now look forward to their clash against Daegu FC. After that, the team is expected to return to Spain and prepare for one last friendly against Como in the Joan Gamper Trophy match before they kick off the official season.

Semprebarca.com