SharesBARCELONA, Spain, Mar 17 – Ernesto Valverde dismissed the idea that he, as Pep Guardiola and Luis Enrique had done before, would win a league, Cup and Champions League treble in his first season at the helm. Valverde has regalvanized the lacklustre Barcelona of last season taking over the team that had just lost Neymar and revitalised their fortunes and the form of their star player Lionel Messi. “I don’t believe in prophecies,” said the Basque whose Barca outfit host Atletico Bilbao Sunday. “Roma beat Chelsea 3-0, a team against which we struggled,” he said after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge had preceded a Messi inspired 3-0 win at the Nou Camp. “Roma also finished above both Chelsea and Atletico (in the group stage) and Atletico is our main league rival, so you get a bit of the measure of the size of rival they are,” he said.

Source: The Star March 17, 2018 15:22 UTC