Celta Vigo boss hails Barcelona as one of the ‘top two or three teams’ in the world | OneFootball

After tasting the year’s first defeat at the hands of Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona will look to return to winning ways as they take on Celta Vigo this Saturday.

Heading into this crucial affair, Celta Vigo coach Claudio Giraldez talked about Barcelona’s form, including their latest defeat to Dortmund and how that may augur for his team.

What Giraldez said ahead of Celta Vigo clash

First and foremost, the Celta Vigo coach talked about Barcelona’s exceptional season so far under Hansi Flick.

“It’s one of the toughest grounds, and if Barcelona aren’t the best team in the world right now, they’re among the top two or three,” he said (h/t MARCA)

“What they’re doing this year is incredibly impressive; they’re in Copa del Rey final and the Champions League semi-finals after several years, leading the Primera Division practically all season except for a specific moment when they dropped to third place.”

Claudio Giraldez is well aware of Barcelona’s quality ahead of Celta’s crucial La Liga test this weekend (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)

However, Giraldez pointed out Barcelona’s recent defeat to Borussia Dortmund as an example of how the Catalans can be broken down.

“Above all, they have a very strong team spirit and approach. The opponent has a lot of powerful qualities, but we showed in the first half of the season that we can hurt them. This last game, against Borussia Dortmund, shows they have some weaknesses.

“We’ll try to play a practically perfect game; if not, we know we won’t get there. They’ll penalise you for any mistake, as happened in the first half of the season,” he said.

It must be noted that Celta Vigo were one of the few sides to have picked up points against Barcelona in La Liga this season, when these two teams last met in November.

In fact, Barça’s little rut in La Liga started with a defeat to Real Sociedad and a subsequent draw with Celta Vigo – a game that saw Flick’s men give away a two-goal lead in the final ten minutes or so of the game.

As these two sides gear up for a rematch, Giraldez appears cautiously optimistic of his team’s chances of breaking down the Barcelona side yet again.