Ernesto Valverde spoke to the press on Thursday ahead of Saturday’s La Liga clash with Eibar at Ipurua.
The Barcelona boss offered his thoughts on El Clasico, Samuel Umtiti and Jordi Alba’s fitness and of course Saturday’s opponents.
Here are the main talking points:
Valverde on El Clasico
It’s true that there was a proposal to change the fixtures round, but we weren’t in favour of that because we play (away) the Wednesday before. There’s nine days to go until the game. We need to respect the calendar and also the fans.