Valencia boss Gennaro Gattuso keen on Barcelona meeting in La Liga

Los Che have struggled of late with just one win in their last five games but manager Gennaro Gattuso is looking forward to seeing counterpart Xavi Hernandez again, having been opponents during their playing days.

In an interview with SPORT, Gattuso said he was glad to be seeing Xavi again as he had a lot of respect for the Barcelona coach.

"I am very happy to see him again. I have a lot of respect for him. It will be a pleasure and an honour to play against him," Gattuso said.

"When I ran, he played. Barça played very well.

"I always like to play the same. My style of play and my mentality are not going to change even if we play against Barça."

Gattuso admitted that Barcelona was a tough side to beat and he respected their ability.

"I like to talk about my team because I already have enough problems here. There are two 'Barcelonas' and the one from La Liga scores a lot of goals and plays incredible," Gattuso said.

"You have to respect the opponent. The game starts with a goalless draw and we are eleven against eleven."