At a commercial event involving the FC Barcelona first team, the captain said he is as excited about his football as he was on his very first day at the club 

Ivan Rakitic added that “we want to end the year well by bringing a bit of joy to the Camp Nou supporters".

Ten Barça players attended a commercial event on Wednesday, and some of them used the occasion to discuss the team’s current situation and the games to come. Xavi, Rakitic, Jordi Alba, Ter Stegen, Douglas and Rafinha of the first team and Adama, Halilovic, Munir and Sandro of Barça B were speaking the day after the comfortable victory in the Spanish Cup.

Xavi Hernández described his optimism for the rest of the season. “We’ll be going for every trophy” he insisted. “We know it’ll be difficult but we’ll be going for them all. We are on good track, the team is working hard and things will go well.” On a more personal note, the first team captain admitted that “I’m nearing the end of my career … But I’m as excited as I was on the very first day. Passion for football and playing for the best team in the world is what keeps me motivated.”

 

He also discussed how impressed he is with the way the younger players are progressing. “You only have to look at yesterday’s match to see that” he said, referring to the 8-1 win against Huesca. One of those youngsters is Adama, who spoke about how much it meant to him to have scored his first official goal for the club. He also revealed that his boyhood idols were Ronaldinho and Ronaldo, “but for any player in the B team, our role model is Leo Messi”.

Two of the summer signings, Ivan Rakitic and Ter Stegen, discussed the upcoming fixture list. Next Saturday, the last game of 2014 sees FCB entertain Cordoba at the Camp Nou. It is very important to end the year well” said the Croat. “We want to win and bring some joy to the supporters.” The German goalkeeper looked further ahead to the Champions League meeting with Manchester City. “It’s one of the hardest games we could have drawn” he admitted. “We will have to be focused and work bravely if we want to qualify.”