Tata Martino has recognised the ‘psychological boost’ Barcelona have post-Clasico, but warns of focus needed against Celta Vigo.
The Catalans head out to Balaidos for Week 11’s Tuesday evening fixture off the back of Saturday evening’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid.
“Winning a Clasico always has a major psychological impact,” commented Martino to reporters in his pre-game conference today.
“I said on Thursday that the boost on the spirit of the players would be more important than the three points.
“We have won a very tough match, in which there were passages that we were superior and that we were overcome by our opponents.
“Whenever there is a risk in playing then it is after a Clasico. We needed to think about Osasuna, then Milan, then Madrid and now we are looking at Celta. It is not a comfortable play to go.
“Beyond the game against Malaga, Celta have a philosophy of play that will remain the same and we have to counteract that for our chances in the game.
“I know Luis Enrique did a good job with Roma. He had Gabriel Heinze then and we spoke a lot about the way he worked. He is a Coach from this club and in the future will have his chance to coach this club.
“No Pique? For Pique, within the issues of squad rotation, we thought it best not to play him in this game.”
Post-Clasico focus has been on Madrid’s complaints of refereeing calls going against them, seeing two penalty appeals turned down.
“There was probably a mistake from the referee, but there was also a game played and you have to focus on that.
“Barcelona was superior in the first half, in the first 25 minutes of the second half Madrid was better and then after that it was fairly even.
“To focus on what the players of Madrid have said would be to take advantage of the situation. It’s okay to say that there was a refereeing mistake if they believe there was.
“The title race? Real Madrid are still a rival until the maths say otherwise. Atletico Madrid will be a third team to go for the League, they took third [last year] and are doing an impeccable job.”
