Barcelona midfielder Pedri has told ESPN there is a sense or urgency for his team to win Sunday’s Clasico against Real Madrid after their disappointing Champions League campaign so far.
Barca head into the match at the Bernabeu stadium after Wednesday’s 3-3 draw against Inter Milan, a result that left Xavi Hernandez’s side no longer depending on themselves to qualify to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
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“We were dealt a hard blow in the Champions League,” Pedri told ESPN in an exclusive interview.
“It’s not the result we expected. After a game like that you think about many things that you could have done better. We need to move on. We need to approach the Clasico in the best possible way.
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“It’s a beautiful game for us. Seeing as we couldn’t give a good result in midweek to our fans, we hope we can do so in the Clasico.
“But we have to change our mindset as quickly as possible ahead of El Clasico.”
Barca will be eliminated from the Champions League group stages for a second straight season if Inter win any of their two remaining games.
Xavi has already told his players to focus on LaLiga.
“He [Xavi] tells us that we have lost an opportunity that for us was very important which was the Champions League,” Pedri added. “Now we have LaLiga left and we are first and we want to continue in that position.
“It’s a very important game for LaLiga.”
Barca lead the league table, level with Real Madrid on 22 points after eight games, with both sides unbeaten in LaLiga.
The Catalan giants boast the best attack and defence in LaLiga, having scored 20 goals and conceded just one.
“We know that if we are at our level and give our best, we can calmly take the game,” Pedri said. “That is what we have to do, to go there with maximum enthusiasm to get it done.”
Maintaining their solid defensive display in LaLiga is Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s biggest concern heading into Sunday’s game.
Barca have given away seven goals in four Champions League games, including three on Wednesday.
“In LaLiga, we haven’t conceded many goals, and we have played very good games,” Ter Stegen told ESPN. “Now we are looking forward to the Clasico because it will be very special and hopefully, we will be able to maintain the very good defensive version of us.”
Barca captain Sergio Busquets said after Wednesday’s disappointment that his team appears to experience “chaos” when conceding a goal.
“There is always room for improvement,” Ter Stegen said. “We are analysing day by day what we can do better.
“But of course we have many things to improve on.
“We are facing big teams in the Champions League. We played Bayern and Inter. They know exactly what they have to do.
“We need to be more stable over 90 minutes which is the most difficult part for us right now.”
It doesn’t help Barca that Real Madrid’s attacking line is led by Ballon d’Or favourite Karim Benzema.
“In the last years he was amazing, you have to admit that,” Ter Stegen said. “We are going to need to find a way to stop him. It’s not only about Benzema. They also have Vinicius and others. In general, they have a very competitive team and we have to be minimum as competitive.”
