"I feel fine. These months have been complicated for me because of the injuries I've sustained. I'm happy, but it's obvious I'm not as fit as my team-mates yet. I'm working hard to reach optimum form as soon as possible."

"The team has improved considerably. We had doubts at the beginning, but we now play better together and we are more aggressive in attack. We are making good progress, which was to be expected with the great number of quality players on the team. It was a matter of time for this to work out."

"It is one thing for me to always want Barcelona to lose, but that's not to say I think they aren't a great team. Barcelona are capable of making a comeback against Sevilla tonight in the Copa del Rey and of turning the overall score around. Nevertheless, I don't think it would be a fiasco for Barcelona if they were eliminated from the competition."

"I think Raul is as he's ever been. I think he does a lot for the team and that he will do important things for us. He is always a leading figure, both on and off the pitch. We know young, strong and anxious players are behind us, which makes us work even harder, but this has happened to greats such as Zidane and Figo."

"I'm impressed with the season Athletic Bilbao are having. They are doing rather well in La Liga and they are achieving their goals in the Europa League. It's hard to explain why they are doing so well in both competitions. It may be because they have a great coach and because they are incorporating very good players from their academy that are increasing the team's performance level and adding freshness to their game."

"Both La Liga and the Champions League are important to us. Our main opponent in La Liga is Barcelona, and there are many more in the Champions League. You have to drop as few points as possible in the Spanish league because, as we all know, Barcelona are a very regular side that hardly drops points. None of the two competitions will be easy to win."

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