“I don’t know Xavi’s thinking but it’s obvious Gavi, Pedri are great players. Although they are very young, they have a positive effect on the game of Barcelona. But also, their squad, there is so much depth in it, they have players who can replace them. Tomorrow will be a very good team from Barcelona, if we want to win, we have to play our best.”
Erik, you have a chance to win a title this weekend, you have a chance to eliminate Barcelona from a European cup this week and you’re still in the [Premier League] title race, how would you summarise the progress the team has made this season and do you feel Manchester United is getting enough credit at the moment?
“Definitely, but it’s not about credit, it’s about trophies. We have the opportunity [to win one on Sunday], but the first focus point is always the next game and in that league [Europa League], we can’t win a trophy this week. We have to go from game to game as the focus, but especially, you have to keep in the same mindset that every day we want to give a better version of ourselves. When you are facing such big teams as Barcelona, you have to play your best, otherwise you don’t have a chance. So, we want to get through, to get to the next round and we have to give the best performance from this season. We believe in it, we’re looking forward to it, so it gives us a lot of energy.”