Barca still dangerous, says Real legend Salgado
dubai — FC Barcelona, plausibly the best football club in the world, may not be peerless or at the peak of their powers, but it would be a folly to write them off at your own peril, reckons Spanish legend and former Real Madrid ace Michel Salgado.
The Blaugrana, five-time winners of the Uefa Champions League, were shunted out of the elite European competition on Wednesday night, by the same opponents — Juventus — whom they had beaten to win their last Champions League title in the 2014-15 season.
Barca are also three points off the pace in the La Liga, of which, they are the defending champions. Their fiercest of rivals Real Madrid top the table with 75 points to Barca’s 72, and also have a game in hand.
It is against this backdrop that Luis Enrique’s men head into the second instalment of the famed ‘El Clasico’ at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night.
But Salgado, capped 53 times by Spain and who made 254 appearances for Real Madrid, felt that Barcelona are not done just yet and could still be dangerous, come Sunday night.
“There are not done,” Salgado said at the Dubai Sports Council (DSC) office on Thursday afternoon.
The 41-year-old, who helped Real Madrid win the Champions League in his debut season in 1999-2000, also gave Real Madrid 2006-07 season as an example.
“If you remember when we did the great comeback in the League with (Fabio) Capello, obviously my memory goes back and I remember it was a tough week for us. We were eliminated by Bayern Munich and everyone was thinking that we were going to lose at Camp Nou 3, 4, 5-nil, 6-nil, things like that. And they (FC Barcelona) were seven points above us. And the total opposite happened as we went there and drew 3-3 and I think we deserved to win. It was the turning point for that big comeback. So, believe me, an ‘El Clasico’ is different, it doesn’t matter the position on the table, it doesn’t matter what happened the last week, the last month, the last day. It is a special game, it is the biggest game in the world and the players know it, the club know it, the fans know it,” he said.
“So, all respect to Barcelona, they are going to be hurt after yesterday (Wednesday), they are going to be even more dangerous. So, we have to be ready for such a big game,” added Salgado.
Salgado also didn’t see it as
Barca are going to be hurt after yesterday (Wednesday), they are going to be even more dangerous Michel Salgado
the end of an era but did add that there will be some changes at Barcelona.
“I’ve been more than 10 years in Real Madrid and when you are eliminated, when you are knocked out of the Champions League, it is always the same. It is the end of an era and then suddenly you win two or three Leagues. Well, one thing is the media, one thing is the fans and another thing is what is happening inside the club. There will be changes in Barcelona during the summer, but even if they had won the Champions League, there would have been changes anyway,” Salgado said.
“I think the big clubs cannot stop from signing new players and renewing the squad every single year because it is too demanding to be there because they have to be always first, they have to be champions in all the competitions that they play. So, it is a bit demanding. I don’t think it is the end of an era. I still see very important players in there, not really old so I think it is just a moment and it is going to finish and then they will have a new coach coming. And for sure, he’s going to take advantage of the players he thinks he can work with them. Obviously, he needs to sign some players but the end of an era, I wouldn’t say that,” he added.
james@khaleejtimes.com