Valverde: The intention is for Barça to extend the winning streak

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde gave a press conference on Friday ahead of Saturday's trip to Girona, the first ever Catalan derby between the two sides in the top flight, and said the intention is to extend the winning run to six games. 

"We’re doing well and our intention is to extend this winning run until we can," he said. "We have to take advantage of winning the first five games, we don’t want to stop.

"But there’s another team in front of us and you never know how games will go or what problems will occur, something can come up in a game that you can’t solve, but our intention is to keep going as we are.

"The season has just started and there will be ups and downs throughout the year. We have to overcome the downs and do as best as we can." 

Valverde also said Barça will have to adapt to Girona's 3-5-2 system and praised their form since being promoted to La Liga this summer: "We have to have an answer, of course." 

THE RETURN OF SUAREZ 

As for Luis Suarez, who was left on the bench against Eibar, Valverde commented that "after the injury he had he played every minute with his country and then with us, but in the last game he had a rest. Idea is that we can count on him for Girona." 

Valverde, meanwhile, was clear that Gironal "will fight" and compete to the maximum. "You have to know how to play these type of games. You know how derbies are.

“They have extra motivation at home, with their supporters behind them. They’ve played well in their home games so far -- Atletico, Malaga… -- so we have to be very careful regardless of the atmosphere around the game. For us, three points are fundamental."

IMPORTANT MASCHERANO 

The coach also spoke about Javier Mascherano, who has been in and out of the team this season. 

"He is a very important player for the team from every point of view," he said. "How do you manage that? I don’t know. You have to be clear about what you're doing.

"I’m not sure exactly but he played some games and missed others last year, too. But he’s an important player and he’s going to play. He is part of the team and he looks good."