Carles Planas relishing the chance to face former club

Carles Planas relishing the chance to face former club

The Celta defender spent 15 years at FC Barcelona and is in Eduardo Berizzo’s squad for Sunday’s game at the Camp Nou

FC Barcelona and Celta face each other on Sunday night at 8.30pm CET, which means a battle between Luis Enrique and his former team. There are plenty of other connections between the sides, but former FCB men Nolito and Fontàs are both missing this game through injury, while Sergi Gómez is suspended.

But Carles Planas is in the squad, the 24 year old who spent fifteen years in the Barça academy and played 120 games for the B team. He left for Galicia in 2014. www.fcbarcelona.com caught up with the left-back ahead of his trip home to Catalonia.

Masia memories

“I was at FC Barcelona from the age of 8 to 23 … It was here that I grew up as a player, and also as a person, so I have nothing but gratitude to this club.”

Former youth colleagues at Barça

I’m still friends with a lot of them, like Bartra and Sergi Roberto. They are taking all the chances they are given. I’m not surprised to see Roberto playing in so many positions, he was always a versatile player. Bartra isn’t getting so many games, but he’s doing well when he does. It’s hard when you don’t get enough games to get into the right rhythm, and every time he plays it’s like he’s being examined.

Rafinha was unlucky to get injured just when he’d hit his best form. It’s important for him to get fit again and come back in the best condition. If he can do that before the end of the season then great, if not, then he’ll need to work all summer to be ready for next season.”

Barça B debut under Luis Enrique

“The fact he was also a player means he has a special relationship with his players … He has a winning mentality and always give it everything he has. He’s a great coach and he’ll win a lot more things yet.”

Celta’s form against Barça

“I don’t think there’s a magic formula. You have to concentrate on not making mistakes. Barça are a great team on top form, but we’ve beaten them twice, so we can beat them again.”

Cup elimination to Sevilla

“I don’t think it’ll affect us although it was intense match for us on Thursday. But that’s no excuse going into a game at the Camp Nou. This is the kind of game that anyone wants to play, and we’ll give it a shot even though we’re missing a lot of players.”

Barça’s prospects for the rest of the season

“They are favourites to win the league but there’s almost half a season still to play, and the Champions League is about to start again… But their form doesn’t seem to be dropping off.”

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