Mexico

Barcelona's Rafael Marquez: I Must Improve Quickly

He says Barca can learn from their defeat to Rubin Kazan.

Oct 22, 2009 2:01:42 AM

More On : Barcelona, Mexico

Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez has admitted that his form must improve drastically to meet the standards set by his team-mates after putting in a less than impressive display in the defeat against Rubin Kazan on Tuesday.

Don't Miss

The UEFA Champions League defeat was the Mexican's first start of the new season and he acknowledged that it showed, and says he has a lot to do to get his match fitness up to the desired level..

"It was my first start and I felt it. It showed against the standard of opponent such as Rubin," he told Sport.

"I acknowledge that I have to improve quickly to get to the level of my team-mates, who have played more games than me. It's a matter of minutes. I've had few and little by little I will improve. To improve I need to work at top speed and that is what I am doing."

Marquez also said that the Blaugrana can learn from the defeat to the Russian champions.

"The game against Rubin Kazan should make us learn to be more clinical up front and more attentive at the back. We can't let it be that they scored twice from three attempts on goal," he remarked.