FC Barcelona will face Celta Vigo this Saturday (9:00 p.m.) with two former culés in the starting XI of the Galician team. Both Óscar Mingueza and Marcos Alonso will be in the line-up of coach Claudio Giráldez and, in the preview of the duel corresponding to matchday 14 of LaLiga, both were honest about what facing Barça means to them.
In that sense, the Madrid native ruled out seeking a rematch with the Blaugrana team. "Not at all. Last year I didn't have continuity and it's complicated, especially because of the injury. Now I'm enjoying football again and very happy, looking forward to the game," said the 33-year-old full-back in a chat with 'MARCA'.
This season, Marcos has played 730 minutes of action spread over 9 League games, 8 of them as a starter. The defender also praised Barça for their great start to the season. "Barcelona are doing many things well, both when it comes to pressing high and when they play high. They are doing things very close together and it is difficult to get out of the pressure," explained the Celta number 20.
Mingueza opens up about his time at Barça
Oscar, for his part, also avoided referring to personal revenge, although he made clear his disappointment at not being able to earn a place at Barcelona. "When Xavi arrived we didn't fit in well. He didn't like me or whatever. He told me I would play 10 games," said the Santa Perpètua de Mogoda native. However, he also used self-criticism, admitting problems with his competitive mentality.
"I trained for training, I played for playing... That's why I left Barça, to try to get the motivation to play again, enjoy and improve my performance," recalled Mingueza in an interview with 'SPORT'. This season, the Catalan has had his best start to a season in LaLiga, with two goals and five assists in 12 games (918 minutes).
On the other hand, the 25-year-old defender praised the effort of the Barça lads in defence. "If you are a defender and you make a mistake, you are in the picture and you are screwed. They will make mistakes, but when they do, you shouldn't kill them," he argued, referring to Cubarsí, Casadó and company. At the same time, he revealed what he considers to be the key factor regarding Raphinha's explosion. "They no longer change him in the 60th minute of each game; that way you can play more calmly," he pointed out.