Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde sees victory over Las Palmas as crucial.

While he expects a tough time of it against Las Palmas, the former Athletic boss acknowledged that his players know what is expected.

"It is very important to win before the break as the previous international break came too soon for us," Valverde said.

"In this case, it comes after nine games for us. We will try to win and end this first stage in good form and go into the break unbeaten.

"Las Palmas will make it tough for us as Pako Ayestaran always sets his teams up well so it will be difficult but we know what we must do."