Barcelona Coach Luis Enrique has insisted the Catalonia derby is his only concern despite a crunch Champions League game in midweek.
La Blaugrana host Paris Saint-Germain in a match that will determine the winners of Group F but the Coach told a pre-match Press conference that the next fixture is the one occupying his thoughts.
“The only game I can influence [is Sunday’s] and then the Champions League will come,” he said, AS reports.
“What I want from the game is a more powerful team and with the squad I have it will be a strong team.
“This city prepares for these matches like that, quietly. Every group of fans live the match their way. There’s a big difference in the League table but it’s true that as Catalans we like to win every game, especially derbies.
“Espanyol may have only won the derby once in 20 years but I don’t like to talk about that information. Playing Espanyol is always difficult.
“The kick-off time? 5pm [local time] is a sensational time to play.
“We’ve seen Espanyol a lot and I guess we expect them to play on the counter. We have to be prepared for everything, but control the game.
“The home-grown players may feel a special motivation about derbies of the past, of course, but I’m not taking that into account [with the team selection].
“I always try to pick a team to do what we want on the pitch. I’m always thinking of ways we can hurt our opponent.”
It was put to Enrique that Barca were boosted by their late away win against Valencia and he conceded that is the case.
“When you win in the last minute and you work hard…they’re the wins that reinforce you and we want to continue in that direction,” he added.
