MADRID, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde hopes he will be able to maintain the team spirit which helped his side win a Spanish domestic double last season.
Barcelona have signed central defender Clement Lenglet, winger Malcom and midfielders Arturo Vidal and Arthur as they look to add depth to last season's squad, but there is one thing their coach doesn't want to change.
"I'd like to keep the same team spirit that we had last season," said Valverde in an interview with the official Barcelona magazine.
"I think we have to keep that. We made a huge effort to always stick together, both in attack and defense," he said.
Valverde's worst moment last season came on a "horrible day," when a 3-0 defeat to Roma saw them knocked out of the Champions League, but he explained that its difficult for clubs to win everything.
"The best way to do that is by being the best from the first day to the last, but that only guarantees you the league, because the Champions League can be lost in a bad ten minutes."
The Barcelona coach also discussed how Cristiano Ronaldo's move from Real Madrid to Juventus could affect one of his side's main title rivals.
He believes it will have ended the competition between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, "because people rarely mention one without mentioning the other."
"A lot of people including myself are also interested to see how it will affect Real Madrid's football and what they might do in the transfer market," he admitted.
Valverde also talked about the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system which has been introduced in Spain this season.
He agreed the system is "here to help us, especially in the penalty areas," but added he didn't want it to "interrupt the flow of games." He believes that referees need help, but still remains concerned about the speed of the game. Enditem
