Barcelona boss Luis Enrique and Espanyol counterpart Constantin Galca have called for calm as their teams prepare to renew their rivalry in the Copa del Rey Wednesday.
It will be the third meeting between the city rivals in the space of 11 days, following a goalless league draw at Espanyol and Barca’s 4-1 first-leg cup victory.
They were both fiercely contested and stormy affairs, especially the cup meeting which saw several scuffles and confrontations, resulting in red cards for Espanyol’s Papakouli Diop and Hernan Perez, ruling them out of Wednesday’s game.
Luis Suarez will also be missing after being handed a two-match ban for aggressively confronting opposition players in the tunnel after the game, but Espanyol keeper Pau Lopez escaped punishment after stamping on Lionel Messi.
Enrique said: “If the meeting can dilute the tension, then wonderful. I will do anything I can to achieve that. I’ve spoken to my players about all the things that could happen. But I don’t think it will have an effect – our players are used to high-tension games, and they will be fine. Football wise, every game we go out to cause problems for the opposition and impose ourselves.”
Espanyol boss Galca asked his team’s fans to focus on their own team rather than venting their hatred of Barca: “I hope the fans support the team and nothing else.
“I always ask the players to focus on the game. I hope the same thing doesn’t happen at our stadium.”
