Barcelona left-back Jordi Alba has insisted that failing to win the treble this season would not constitute a failure but admits it would be “a big shame”.
La Blaugrana were crowned La Liga champions last weekend and can still triumph on all fronts trophies in 2015-16 as they will face Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final on Saturday and then travel to Berlin for the Champions League final against Juventus.
“[Not winning the treble would be] a failure, no. We’re having a very good season,” he said at a Press conference.
“We’re two games away from winning the treble, but not [winning them] would be a failure.
“It’d be a big shame to have reached the finals and not win them, but it wouldn’t be a failure.
“We’re at home [for the Copa final] and it’s better for us to play at our own stadium.
“It’ll be a very difficult game, but we’ll try to win it. I don’t think it’s a double-edged sword as we don’t have to move and we know the pitch well.
“[Luis Suarez] is training with us, he’s a great player and working out like the rest of the team.
“We hope to [celebrate the treble] after the Champions League final but it’ll be very difficult.
“[Athletic and Madrid] are two great rivals who are [in the finals] on merits, but our desire is to celebrate with our fans on June 7.
“We don’t consider ourselves favourites. Nowadays, any team, big or small, can beat you, but I don’t pay attention to things like this, it’s more for the fans to discuss.
“The team are focused for Saturday and we’ll only think about the Champions League final after that.
“We really want to win the treble and it’d be a shame if we were distracted by games we hadn’t played yet.
“Everyone’s free to say and think what they want. The players focus on one game at a time and we know how difficult it is. None of us think it’ll be easy.
“We’re at home and what matters is what happens on the field. We’ll enjoy the atmosphere and try to win in order to give joy to our fans.
“[On both sets of fans possibly booing the Spanish national anthem], as a player I only focus on winning the game, that’s all that what interests me.
“Certainly, the fans will back their teams. They are more or less always with the team. We have to focus on winning this game and enjoy it.
“[Regardless of the treble, this season] has been my most complete while I’ve been here. When the team do well, it gives you confidence.
“[Juventus] are defensively one of the best teams in the world. They have [Fernando] Llorente, [Fernando] Morata and [Carlos] Tevez, all of whom are very dangerous and understand each other well.
“They’re very hard to beat. Tevez and Morata are two players who complement each other very well, yet are very different from one other.
“Tevez is quicker and more skilful, while Morata holds the ball up well and has a great shot.”
