Laporta mocks Real Madrid: you must have the courage to deal with rivals' compliments
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has raised the bar on the club's ambitions. The team "aspires to win everything", he insisted, convinced that backing the players and coaching staff will get them there.
"We aim to win everything, and I am certain that if we provide support to the team and the coaching staff we will achieve that," Laporta told the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.
"Together we succeeded in restoring the club's economic strength, together we defended Barcelona, and together we will continue building the best club in the world," he added. "We will not tire, for the love of Barcelona requires daily work to be the best, and there is no room for complacency."
Turning to rivals in Europe and Spain, Laporta let fly: "We must have the imagination and the courage to be at the forefront ahead of our rivals, who are either public limited companies, or owned by investment funds and states, or clubs whose stadiums are reclassified with ease whenever they need that." The barbs pointed clearly at Atletico Madrid (investment funds) and Real Madrid (stadium reclassification).
Praise flowed for the work of Deco and Hansi Flick and the quality of the squad. "In the dressing rooms there is perfect harmony between the La Masia players and the players who came from outside," Laporta said. "The team is managed brilliantly and the team was built excellently thanks to Deco's work. We have formed a team that allows us to say today that we aim to win everything."
The ambition ran high. "We have the ambition to win the league title for the third consecutive time, to win the Cup and the Super Cup, and of course we aim to win the Champions League, and if we provide them with support we will achieve that," he said. "I am convinced of this."
He signed off: "The goal over the coming years is to keep winning, to preserve Barcelona as the biggest club in the world, and to continue being what we are: a Catalan club open to the world, a club that contributes to making the world a better place, and committed to Catalonia and our culture."
