Xavi: "San Mamés is as important as or more important than the clásico"

Xavi Hernández is focused solely and exclusively on San Mamés. Beyond what should happen this Sunday in Bilbao, he is concerned about very few things.

Not even the clásico on March 19 March at Spotify Camp Nou because "maintaining the nine-point advantage is key," he said at the press conference he gave at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper prior to the game against Athletic Club.

The Barça coach is clear that they have to focus all their efforts on beating Athletic: "Sunday is a final, it's very important, and then we'll have the whole week that we have off to think about the clásico."

As he has been repeating in recent weeks, "it's a final for us. Every game that remains is a final. At the very least we have to keep this distance (nine points)."

Not even the fact that there are four players on yellow cards who, if they are booked, would miss the game against Real Madrid, changes Xavi's story: "We won't play with the handbrake on. First, tomorrow's game, and then we'll think about the clásico. Tomorrow's game is just as important, if not more so, than the clásico." 

Xavi says that in the next two games "there's a lot of league to play for, a lot -- six points that are not decisive, but they are crucial. The moment of truth is here when trophies are won, and you have to show your class, step up, compete, you have to win these games.

"Sunday will be a sensational battle. It's San Mamés, Bilbao, an aggressive team that doesn't speculate...".