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Iniesta: Lets turn Clasico into homage for Cruyff

Xinhua, March 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

FC Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta said on Wednesday that he hoped Saturday' s 'Clasico' in the Camp Nou against Real Madrid could become a homage for former coach, Johan Cruyff.

Former player and coach Cruyff, who is widely regarded as the man who changed Barca' s fortunes, died aged 68 on March 24th after suffering lung cancer.

A memorial which was opened to his memory at the Camp Nou received around 60,000 visitors in the four days it was open and Iniesta now hopes to turn Saturday' s game against Barca' s bitter rivals into another tribute to the former Barca hero.

"It would be very nice to be able to beat Madrid to pay homage to Cruyff, who gave a lot to us Barca people and to the world of football. Saturday' s game is already special, but I hope this is an extra motivation," he said during a press conference.

Barca go into the game with a 10-point lead over Real Madrid and a nine-point advantage over Atletico Madrid with just eight games remaining this season, but Iniesta didn' t believe that would be a factor on Saturday.

"These games are different and it doesn' t matter the form either side is in, we all want to win them, but what interests us is with so little league left to play is to maintain or extend our lead over whoever is second," commented the midfielder.

Iniesta warned against overconfidence among Barca fans. "It' s good to have a positive atmosphere, but I don' t think euphoria is good. We have a difficult game ahead of us in which small things will make the difference."

Iniesta missed Spain' s recent friendly games with a minor muscle injury, but said he was in perfect shape to play on Saturday and said he didn' t believe the match would be the same as Barca' s 4-0 win in Real Madrid' s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium earlier in the season. Endit