Victor Valdes speaks to the Press
Barcelona faced Levante as their first New Year opponents a week back. The Spanish Champions were missing out on three of their key players including their captain Carles Puyol. The Argentinean striker Lionel Messi and the Spanish
centre back Gerard Pique were the other two who missed out during the first 2011 Spanish La Liga fixture. In the absence of these players, Pedro Rodriguez managed to find the net twice and helped Barcelona cruise to the top of the table, two points above Real
Madrid who also won their opening fixture against their local rivals Getafe.
After the game, Xavi Hernandez was given a “special surprise” party. The midfield magician managed to make as many appearances as the former centre back Migueli did for Barcelona. Every Barcelona player and fan made sure they were
in the Nou Camp to congratulate Xavi Hernandez, who is only 30 at the moment and has a few more years to follow, which would mean that he would set a new target for the younger Barcelona players.
The Spanish goalkeeper Victor Valdes came out and spoke to the press afterwards and dedicated the victory to the “record holding” Xavi Hernandez. The Barcelona number 1 stated that the win and the party was all for Xavi Hernandez
who achieved something that many will not be able to achieve in the near future. He said that the day was important for the team not only because of the win, but also because Xavi achieved something extraordinary. He said that he was honoured to play alongside
a player who has achieved this milestone and congratulated him over his achievement.
He was questioned about his number of appearances as he is considered one of the few players who might be able to beat Xavi Hernandez’s record. In reply to this, the Spanish goal stopper said that he takes things slowly and day
by day. He insisted that he is currently too far away from Xavi’s number of appearances; however, he showed delight towards the fact that he equalled Antoni Ramallets number of appearances for Barcelona. Antoni Ramallets is a former Barcelona goal stopper
who served the team during 384 games. Victor Valdes has managed to make as many appearances as the legendary Barcelona goal stopper and he was simply delighted to have done that.
He also commented on the game against Levante, which turned out to be very tough despite the fact that Barcelona were playing at home. The Barcelona number 1 said that it was difficult for his side to score because Levante defended
really well. He said, “Levante defended tight, so it was difficult, but I think we had the game under control at all times.”
With Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique out, Josep Guardiola played Sergio Busquets and Eric Abidal as centre backs. Meanwhile, Victor Valdes had nothing but good things to say about both of them. He applauded Sergio Busquets for playing
extraordinarily well even though he was playing out of position and not in his favourite holding midfield area. Moreover, Valdes stated that both the centre backs worked fine and the Frenchman Eric Abidal was quick enough to mark his man.
Victor Valdes also commented on the upcoming Cup game against Athletic Bilbao. The Barcelona number 1 said, “The trip to Bilbao will be difficult. Athletic take this competition very seriously so it won’t be easy.”
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