Sergi Barjuan: I want to get the happy faces back at Barcelona

Sergi Barjuan was presented as Barcelona's interim head coach on Friday after the sacking of Ronald Koeman, and he is excited about the challenge ahead.

Barcelona remain keen on trying to bring in Al Sadd boss Xavi Hernandez as soon as possible, but until then it will be Sergi who is in charge of the first team.

"Thank you for the confidence," Sergi said to Joan Laporta during the press conference.

"I send a big hug to Koeman. There is little room to work when you play Tuesday and Saturday.

"I will try to push the methods that I think can be effective. The way we play is not going to change, the players are the same. We have discussed a couple of tactical concepts."

Change of atmosphere

Sergi is determined to create a positive atmosphere in the first team during his time as head coach.

"The first thing is to get the happy faces back. If we get the players back and recover the idea of attacking football, it will help us," he commented.

"I'm a winner and I like winning players. We all have to turn the situation around. Depending on what we see, we will intervene to a greater or lesser extent."

Riqui Puig

One of the players who is expected to benefit from the change of coach is Riqui Puig, who was never in favour under Koeman.

"Everyone available has a chance of playing," Sergi stated.

"I can't make an assessment based on one training session. I'm here to make decisions. We'll see."

In terms of whether anything will change regarding training, Sergi wants to see a more intense Barcelona.

"I don't know what they did before. I know what I want, what I propose and what I like," he explained.

"I've asked them for intensity. We are 24 hours away from a match. My deadline is to get the most out of them in a short amount of time."