Barcelona and Real Madrid have shared nine of the last ten La Liga titles among themselves and look set to continue their tussle for supremacy this season as both of them are on course to meet yet again in the Copa del Rey should Barcelona triumph over Malaga on Thursday. Despite having already clashed 14 times in all competitions since 2010, Fabregas insists that the Barcelona players are still relishing the prospect of facing Los Blancos in every El Clasico. Fabregas was quoted as saying on AS: “Are we tired of playing Madrid so often? I don’t think so. Any player in the world wants to play in important games.
“The more Clasicos there are, the better it is for football, the players, the fans, everyone. But first we want to play against Malaga, who beat Madrid last time, and who drew with us. Things change in football every day. We want to fight and play well in Malaga, and if we get through, then we can talk about a Clasico. “Real Madrid-Barca is always very close. It’s a different game from the rest. It’s a very special derby and you cannot compare it with any other game, the feeling you get when you play in that game is like nothing else.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s in the Copa, the Champions League or a village tournament, you go out onto the pitch feeling very different to any other game.
The former Arsenal man is not carried away though and is fully focused on getting past Malaga in the quarter-finals on Thursday. “We’re treating it as a very difficult game. We can’t lose our identity, we’ll play well. When you play so many games against the same opponents, you get to know them well. You know just the little differences, and that’s what can change the balance of the game. “We played very well in Málaga (in the league) and we could have scored more goals in the first leg, but that’s football, you have to learn how to deal with things like that. Málaga are having a stupendous season.”
