Rosell: “Barça are still the best team in the world”

FC Barcelona President Sandro Rosell gave a wide ranging interview to the local sports daily El Mundo Deportivo this Monday, fielding questions about Tito Vilanova, Sergio Busquets’ progress and his pleasure at Eric Abidal’s recovery.

Tito’s return “the best possible news”

Looking forward tothe return of coach Tito Villanova, Sandro Rosell explained: “it’s the best possible news for us – even better than our fightback against Milan, because one is about human character and the other a sporting feat. The human side should always come first” and also revealed he’d spoken to Tito: “after the Deportivo game and after the win against Milan, when I told him ‘this result is a fantastic way to give you the welcome back that you deserve. We are waiting for you with the same desire as you are keen to come back, or even more so”.

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“The best team in the world”

The President also spoke of the Milan win, claiming: “it took a weight of my shoulders from a purely sporting point of view – I want Barça to win every game, even a friendly, so that the players and members enjoy themselves and in this case because it gives Tito the best possible situation for his return, but it wasn’t to do with overcoming any sporting or institutional crisis, nor of our values, I never saw that as existing – Barça are still the best team in the world”.

Praise for Busquets

With Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta just getting better and better, the President was asked if their contracts would be improved in line with this and he made it clear that: “the two are top world class players – I’d say the best in the game in their positions. The Club has to be sensitive to that fact and we will be”. Spanish coach Vicente Del Bosque recently said of he could come back as a player, he’d love to be like Busquets, but the President would be satisfied with less than that: “I’d just like to come back as someone who made the starting XI – I always seemed to be on the bench! They say that nobody is irreplaceable, but I really think that for us, Busquets is”. Xavi, Messi and Iniesta are sometimes called the holy trinity, but Sr Rosell thinks Busquets is: “up there with the three of them– maybe we need to remain them the four musketeers!”

Neymar : “As a fan, there’s something different about him”

Sr Rosell also revealed his admiration for Neymar – all the while insisting that he was speaking as a football fan and not the President of the Club and stressing that: “he’s a Santos player till 2014 and so as President I have nothing to say about him. As a football fan it’s clear to see that he has something different about him. He’s like Romario, Ronaldinho, Maradona, Messi... players the members here really appreciate”.