Getafe President Angel Torres: Barcelona Are Getting Tense

Barcelona managed to maintain their six-point gap at the top of the Primera Division standings over Real Madrid, but they had to work hard to eke out a 1-0 win at Getafe last Saturday.

The two clubs’ presidents, Geta’s Angel Torres and Barca chief Joan Laporta, were both in attendance in the VIP theatre box at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez, and there were a few awkward moments when Laporta openly berated the performance of referee Turienzo Alvarez to his counterpart.

“Barca may be six points in front, but they are suffering from a little ‘Madriditis’ and that is not good,” Torres declared on Television Espanola programme ‘Estudio Estadio’.

“There’s a lot of tension and it was evident in him [Laporta] but that’s because they have a lot at stake. And the reason for that is because Real Madrid are the ones who are behind them.

“If it were any other team, there certainly wouldn’t be as much tension. In the end, he exploded but we still have a good relationship.”

Despite the show of nerves, Torres is still putting his money on Barca to lift the league title.

“Barcelona are very strong. Their entire squad is doing very well, they don’t have injuries and they have recovered Iniesta. It is very difficult to see them falter,” he opined.

“The Copa del Rey final and the Champions League semi-final may distract them, but it is also going to give them extra motivation.”

The Geta chief also praised Madrid coach Juande Ramos, although he is hoping that his side can pull off an upset when the two meet at the Santiago Bernabeu this Tuesday evening.

Torres said, “If Madrid didn’t have their elections this year, they would certainly have renewed Juande’s contract by now. And he is also doing extremely well in not demanding anything.

“It’s very difficult to win 15 out of 16 games. To win even eight is tough. If it was any other coach, Barcelona would be 15, maybe 20 points in front now.

“I hope that we’ll do better than we did last Saturday, and that Madrid do not pressure as much as Barca did. We can surprise them. The Bernabeu has been very good to us lately.”

KS Leong, Goal.com