Barcelona enters Saturday's Spanish Primera División match against Sevilla FC on the rebound after a tough 2-0 loss to AC Milan in the Champions League and they are hoping the home crowd at Nou Camp will give them the motivation they need.
Milan took the advantage in the match against Barcelona with goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari, giving them a nice advantage before they play the return leg of their last-16 tie on March 12. In La Liga play, Barcelona holds a 12-point lead over Atletico Madrid and will be looking to snag points on Saturday.
"It was a long journey back for the players and coaching staff,'' Xavi said. "The result is very, very bad for us. We have to realise what we did wrong. We have to correct our errors and not have doubts about ourselves, that would be the worst thing. We have to be more united than ever.''
The team will get a boost from defender Eric Abidal, who is returning after a live transplant last April and will be able to fully participate in the upcoming matches, including on Saturday.
"It's the best news of the year. Seeing Abidal, how he trains and gives it everything and that he's now able to return to playing is a source of motivation. It's the best news we could have had," said Xavi.
Sevilla sits in 10th place in the La Liga standings and the team is hoping to do better than things went in September, when the club had a 2-1 lead at home before allowing two goals by Cesc Fabregas and David Villa to lose the match.
The club still has a chance for a European berth and they will need as many points as they can get. The focus will be mostly on star Lionel Messi, who has been absolutely stellar for Barca this season, netting 37 goals.
"Many things have been said about how to mark Messi, but they have so many good players that if you just focus on him, the others will cause you damage,'' defender Alberto Botia said.
Messi has scored 37 times in 24 matches for Barcelona, who have a 53-plus goal differential and 65 points in league play. Sevilla FC has also played in 24 matches, earning 32 points with a minus-2 goal differential. Álvaro Negredo is leading the club with 10 goals, while Ivan Rakitic is tops with six assists. Messi is leading Barca with 37 goals, while Andres Iniesta is tops with 13 assists.
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