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SPORT : Valverde: Whistles towards Griezmann? I want Barcelona fans to focus on us

Barcelona head coach Ernesto Valverde has pleaded for the Blaugrana's supporters to focus on their own side ahead of Saturday night's top of the table clash with Atletico Madrid, rather than target Antoine Griezmann.




The French forward opted to remain at Atletico last summer, rather than join Barcelona, and reports in the last month have indicated that Griezmann would be open to taking the Catalans up on their offer if it were to arrive again this summer.
"Whistles towards Griezmann tomorrow? I want [our] fans to focus on us, not on the rivals," stated Valverde.
"I do not like it when we go to a stadium and I see a player who is being whistled."
The 55-year-old also noted in his press conference that Ousmane Dembele will not feature against Atletico and will instead look to recuperate in time for Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg with Manchester United at Old Trafford, though Valverde will not choose a line-up with Wednesday in mind.
"Dembele will not be with us [on Saturday]," said Valverde.
"We'll see if he is [ready] on Wednesday.


"The Champions League game at Old Trafford will not influence [Saturday's] line-up at all."
Barcelona will be without Arturo Vidal for the match against Los Rojiblancos at the Camp Nou, so Arthur is likely to get the nod alongside Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic.
"It would have been great for us to have Arturo Vidal for the game against Atletico Madrid," added Valverde.
"It's a handicap not to have him because we lose out on energy and character."
Samuel Umtiti received a lot of criticism for his performance away at Villarreal in midweek, where two late goals from Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez salvaged a 4-4 draw, but Valverde is keen to remind people that the Frenchman has not long returned from injury.
"Umtiti has been on the sidelines for a long time because of his injury," he intimated.
"Now he has to integrate and adapt to the group again."


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