LaLiga title will make Barcelona powerful vs Liverpool, warns Ernersto Valverde

Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde says claiming LaLiga on Saturday will give the Catalans a big boost ahead of their Champions League quarter-final first leg against Liverpool on Wednesday.

Valverde’s side are at home to struggling Levante and a win would see the Blaugrana confirmed as champions with three rounds of the competition still remaining.

“It’s possible there will be one or two changes,” Valverde said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

“But we have four days until the game against Liverpool and winning tomorrow, for what it signifies, is something powerful ahead of Wednesday.

“They have one more day of rest (the Reds face Huddersfield in the Premier League on Friday), so we could give one or two players a rest.”

Asked about the game against Levante, Valverde said: “It will be complicated, but we are playing for the title. We have a margin (for error), but we don’t want to fail and it’s the game in which we want to be champions.”

Atletico Madrid are in second place, nine points behind Barca, and the Catalans will be champions before kick-off on Saturday if Diego Simeone’s side lose at home to Valladolid earlier in the day.

“What I want is to win,” Valverde said. “After Atletico’s game or on the pitch. What do you want me to say? The league is hard enough as it is. What we hope is that tomorrow is a party.”

And he added: “Atletico have been great competitors, they are pushing us all the way to the end.”

When it is confirmed, Barca’s title will be a second successive league win for Valverde and an eighth in 11 seasons for the Catalan club.

“We place a lot of value on the league title,” the 55-year-old said. “More than anything else because it’s the title that defines the season. There are others, like the Copa [del Rey] and the Champions [League], but they depend more on specific moments.

“But this competition means winning a lot of matches and in tough places. How the club treats this competition says a lot about Barca.”

Valverde believes his players are focused on Levante and not looking ahead to Liverpool just yet, despite the glamour of the Champions League.

“Tomorrow’s game has a special significance for everyone and we have the opportunity to win the three points at home and enjoy it with our fans. Nobody wants to miss out on that.”

The Barca boss added that he is saving his own thoughts on Liverpool until after Saturday’s game, although he admitted that he has an eye on the Reds as well.

“I have something in my head, but I want to put that to one side,” he said. “We want tomorrow to be a high point, but it’s true that we are having a look at what Liverpool are doing.”

In recent years, the league champion has not been presented with the trophy on the same day, but Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales will be at Camp Nou on Saturday to hand out the cup and medals if Barca seal the title.

“I hope the RFEF president has work to do and that he is not just coming to watch the game,” Valverde said. “We don’t know what will happen; it is always special to receive the trophy as they do in other leagues, but what I’m concerned about is what we do in the match itself.”