Wake up Luis! Barca boss plans nap instead of watching Madrid derby

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique says he will watch Saturday’s Madrid derby – but only if he opts against an afternoon snooze.

The clash at the Santiago Bernabeu between Real Madrid and neighbours Atletico could prove pivotal in the title race with Barca going into the weekend two points behind Zinedine Zidane’s men and having played a game more.

But Luis Enrique was typically low-key when asked if would be glued to the television ahead of Barca’s game at Malaga, which kicks-off four hours later.

He said: “If I don’t take a nap I’ll watch it.”

When pushed further on events in the capital, he added: “These derbies are different, they are special and both teams need points.

“Maybe where it’s played could be important but away wins do happen in these games. It will be an interesting game for sure.”

Luis Enrique: “We have always had problems against Málaga and for us it will be a good test” #FCBlive pic.twitter.com/qwy4YwTd81

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 7, 2017

Barcelona will need to replicate their performance in the 3-0 hammering of Sevilla on Wednesday night in the remaining eight games if they are to catch their arch-rivals at the Liga summit while they return to Champions League action next week against Juventus.

A long winning run is needed for Barca to challenge on all fronts – they are also in the final of the Copa del Rey where Alaves await next month – but Luis Enrique admits it will be difficult.

“I don’t know, I hope we can do it,” he added. 

“We’ll try to win 11, 12, 13 games straight but it’s very difficult.

“And since it’s so easy to be distracted the best thing is to focus on the next game and that’s Malaga and approach it completely motivated as we’re going to have to play well to win.

“We have always had problems against Malaga and for us it will be a good test.”