Sergio Busquets went before the Press prior to Barcelona’s game against Getafe and faced a barrage of questions on the Champions League final.
Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid will meet in Lisbon on May 24 after Los Blancos routed holders Bayern Munich and Los Rojiblancos overturned 2012 winners Chelsea.
Busquets was asked if he will watch the Madrid derby and the midfielder replied that he doesn’t know if he’ll be free.
“I don’t know what I’ll be doing that day,” Busquets said.
“I don’t think the final effects La Liga. There are still many days until the end and they can relax during the week.
“I’m not at all surprised by Atletico. They are a great team, very competitive, hungry and intense. They’re there on merit.
“The way Atletico play is different to Barca. Not better or worse. In the end, what matters is the result.
“We are hopeful [of having options in the League], otherwise we wouldn’t play. It is difficult but we will exhaust our options.
“We have hope [of Atletico slipping up] and until the last minute we will try.”
Barca’s last outing saw a come-from-behind win at Villarreal on an emotional day, soon after the death of former Coach Tito Vilanova.
Busquets admitted that the Barca players were not fully focused on the match, having lost one of their mentors on the Friday before the Sunday fixture.
“It was complicated by what happened. We don’t stop being people and having memories. Tito’s death affected us,” he said.
“We’ll keep Tito in mind. The moments with him were unforgettable. Hopefully it can help us, but we’re the ones who have to go out and win.
“We were emotionally drained. But the game wasn’t very different from against Granada. Even without creating many chances, we got the win.
“What happens is that we lose and then the debate starts.
“The League has been a mystery this season but it hasn’t been a good year in terms of trophies.”
Busquets was asked further about the season so far and the future, both for Barca and for himself. Questioned as to whether he has had more work to do on the pitch this year, Busquets confirmed that sometimes he has.
“It depends on the game and the opponent. There have been games where I’ve had to cover more areas,” he said.
“But not everything depends on us. The opponent plays too. The team is together.
“If elected captain I would be delighted, but in theory there are already captains here by seniority and I don’t touch them.
“[Who the Coach is] isn’t our thing. The people here deserve respect until the end of the season.”
