"You do notice when the stadium’s half empty" – Pedro

It was the turn of Pedro Rodríguez to attend the press on Friday. The player expressed his confidence in the team, saying that he feels optimistic about Barça’s chances of picking up silverware but he was less enthusiastic about the late kick-off times which have affected gate receipts at Camp Nou.

Sunday’s clash at Sevilla: “It’ll be a tough match – they gave us a hard time when we met at Camp Nou. But it will be my 250th game with Barcelona. They will start the match as they usually do – intensely so we will need to be careful. The margin for error is nil”.

Poor turn-outs at Camp Nou: “You really notice when the stands are half empty; you can’t fail to notice it. And playing in front of 90,000 fans isn’t the same as playing in front of 38,000. For us it is tiring to kick off matches at 10 o’clock at night. We would prefer matches to kick off at 8 o’clock but we have to accept the timetable we are given. Late kick-off times, the cold weather and other factors all have an effect but our fans always support us and that’s why we are obliged to put in a good season. I don’t know if the public is fed up with us or not, we always try to entertain them although we had just suffered a league defeat. Better games will come and we will try to give our best as we always do”.

Tata’s worries: “We’re feeling confident and we’re raring to go. The defeat to Valencia was tough to take, we can’t afford to slip up in the league and after our good result against La Real, we are one step away from the Copa del Rey final. We have to take it one step at a time”.

Possibility of entering a downward spiral: “We never fall into the trap of succumbing to negative thoughts. We’re going into Sunday’s match on the back of a defeat, but any team can have an off day. I’m sure that we’re going to grow stronger – we’re in a great moment and we want to continue our philosophy as best as we can. We have a lot of good moments to look back on this season and we’re satisfied with what we are doping”.

Messi, lacking motivation: “He’s just as fired up as he’s always been and even if he has not rediscovered his goal scoring touch, it will return. He’s motivated and determined to continue getting even better. He looks fine to me; we have the best player in the world in the side”.

Pellegrini: “He’s a great coach but we’re not thinking too much about him yet. When the City game gets nearer, we’ll see. Getting through to the quarter finals will be tough”.