Ivan Rakitic: 'One of the best performances of the season'

FC Barcelona midfielder, Ivan Rakitic, spoke to the media following the fantastic 6-0 victory over Alavés at Mendizorroza. The Croatian scored his side’s fifth goal on the night and spoke about Barça’s display: “Our performance was complete and was one of the best of the season.”

Rakitic went on to express concern about Aleix Vidal’s injury: ““The match went well but we hope Aleix hasn’t suffered too serious an injury. I hope it doesn’t turn out to be as bad as it looks, I was quite shocked. Hopefully he’ll be back soon as he is a great guy and he was playing excellently.”

The blaugrana was happy with how the game went: ““They are a team who don’t concede many as they defend well, particularly at home. We produced a top-quality performance from the off. At the start they closed us down well but we were patient and waited for our moment.”

“I want to dedicate my goal to my family and I hope to continue contributing to the side. I feel more and more comfortable with each game”, added the Croatian. Finally, the midfielder turned his attention to the Champions League meeting against PSG and he seemed to be in a confident mood: ““We are improving week after week. Paris will be a difficult game but we are optimistic and we’ll give everything we’ve got.”

Read on for more post-match reaction from Barça’s players:

Marc-André Ter Stegen

“I am always focused on the game so that I can make important saves. It’s my job.”

“Our recent performances have been very good, today we secured victory in a very important game which keeps us in the title race.”

Sergio Busquets

“The team was impressive from start to finish. In the end it was a big victory but the most important thing was our performance.”

“We need to keep playing our game and this will lead to results.”

“The final will be a completely different match to today’s one. The motivation, the preparation time...it’s different.”