Former Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster is confident he wasn't shown the door because he declared earlier this season that it would be "difficult" to beat Barcelona.

He told Marca: "No. A few days before we had a meeting with the players. They said clearly that they were the only ones capable of beating Barcelona. As a team, they have the quality and knowledge in these matches.

"The intent of that press conference was to remove pressure and throw it back onto Barcelona. I said that it was very difficult to beat Barcelona, not impossible.

"This season we were in the same situation last year, when we won 0-1. What was intended was to remove the pressure."