Ivan Rakitic has claimed that Barcelona can be just as ‘scary’ as Real Madrid this season.
The Croatia international signed for the Camp Nou outfit this summer from Sevilla, and the playmaker believes that his new side can match Los Blancos – who have improved with the likes of James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos coming in.
“I respect everyone, even Madrid, but, I prefer to talk about the club,” he told Sport.
“We work for ourselves, as every team in the League. We are also able to be scary and play well. We work every day for it.
“It is normal for the biggest teams to have this kind of rivalry [between Barcelona and Madrid], but we have to think about ourselves.
“Here we have the world's best.”
Rakitic then commented on his own personal goals for the new season.
“I do not want to limit myself, I want to be better, if I can also improve the numbers, the better, but the important thing is the play.
“I cannot say I'm going to play like [Lionel] Messi or will overflow into the tackle like [Andres] Iniesta. People who know me from Sevilla, know it’s about my play.
“I think at Barca it will be easy to adapt with such good players.
“So far it is fine for me, I'm happy, but I want to keep improving in every training and every game.”
