Eric Garcia: “Being eliminated from the Champions League doesn’t diminish what we’ve done in La Liga”.
Barcelona, April 20 (EFE)
Barcelona defender Eric Garcia asserted that being eliminated by Atlético Madrid in the Champions League quarterfinals “doesn’t diminish” their performance in LaLiga EA Sports, a competition the Blaugrana lead by nine points over Real Madrid with seven matchdays remaining.
“LaLiga is the reward for consistency, and we’re doing things very well. Being knocked out by Atlético Madrid in the Champions League and the Copa del Rey is tough, but it doesn’t take away from what we’ve achieved in LaLiga. The lead we have is good and speaks volumes about how we’re doing things,” he stated at a charity event held this Monday in Barcelona.
Nevertheless, the Catalan player is focused on securing the title as soon as possible, so if he could choose, he would prefer to mathematically clinch it before facing Real Madrid in the Clásico on May 10.
“If Real Madrid has to give us a guard of honor, it means we’ve won La Liga, and since I’ve said I want to win it as soon as possible, that’s my answer,” he stated when asked if he prefers to celebrate the title before El Clásico or by beating their eternal rivals at the Camp Nou.
In this regard, the player from Martorell hopes that if Barça celebrates the title before El Clásico, the Real Madrid players will give them a guard of honor. “If we were in that situation, we would give them a guard of honor,” he opined.
The player also acknowledged the “tough blow” of failing to secure passage to the Champions League semifinals, where, in his opinion, they lacked “a bit of luck.”
“Things didn’t go our way in either the first or second leg. It’s not all the referees’ fault; there are strange decisions that are hard to understand, but we had 180 minutes to do our job,” he argued.
And, when asked about the refereeing, he added: “We usually have bad luck, while other clubs don’t. These things happen in football.”
Personally, Eric described himself as a footballer who likes to “help” his teammates “with things related to football and outside of it,” and admitted that he would be thrilled to be called up to play in the World Cup with Spain this summer.
“All the players know there’s a World Cup. I’d like to be there. I try to do my part, which is to give my best, and if the coach calls me up, I’d be delighted,” acknowledged the Barcelona player, who has been absent from Luis de la Fuente’s recent squads.
Eric Garcia made these statements during the presentation of the twenty-first edition of the book ‘Solidarity Stories of Sport’ at the Old Damm Factory.
With the collaboration of Banco Mediolanum, the proceeds from the book sales will go to the Avan Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting people with neurological diseases and their families.
In addition to the footballer, those attending the event included the interim president of FC Barcelona, Rafael Yuste; the Catalan Minister of Sport, Berni Álvarez; and the president of the Catalan Football Federation, Joan Soteras, among others. EFE
