Ivan Rakitic predicts a ‘perfect’ performance will be needed for Barcelona to land the UEFA Super Cup against old team Sevilla.
Rakitic, speaking to AS, also admitted that ordinarily he wants Los Rojiblancos to win but with a trophy at stake, professionalism wins out.
“I’ve said I don’t like to play against Sevilla because as a Sevilla fan, I want Sevilla to win, but as a professional I want to win the trophy,” Rakitic said, having spent three years at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
“I see they’ve changed a lot of pieces and have done well again. We’ll have to have a perfect match to win, because I know how [Unai] Emery and his staff work.
“The Super Cup is very special, a very nice game. I really want to play in it, because last year I couldn’t, having already left Sevilla. It will be unforgettable.
“Little by little we’re talking about it more, but we know we’re in pre-season and we have to prepare well to have a very strong year.
“Of course, we know we’re playing for a trophy too, so we’ll prepare gradually. The important thing is to arrive calmly and with the desire to win.
“We’re like any other team – if we were at 100% now, it wouldn’t be a good thing. We had little time in training and everything that’s happening is normal.
“What matters is we’re improving with every game and every training session. The intensity is going up. We’ll try to do our best but we won’t be fully connected for the Super Cup.”
Rakitic also reflected on last season, his first in Barca colours, and admitted there was little about which to complain.
“It could hardly have gone better. I’m very proud of our achievements and my involvement because I played 51 games,” he considered.
“We made history, I scored in the final of the Champions League…I arrived here confident and eager for everything to go right and, thank God, it did.”
