Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka believes that Barcelona will retain their Champions League title this season.
The Catalan club will face Chelsea in the semi-finals while Los Blancos will be up against Bayern Munich, and the former defender thinks that Pep Guardiola's side are the heavy favourites.
"It's what everybody thinks [that Barca are favourites]. They are a team that play really well, are in the semi-finals and although they did drop in form, they picked it up again and are still hot favourites," he told reporters at a press conference.
Madrid lead the Blaugrana by six points in La Liga and although the 38-year-old claims Barca are the favourites in Europe, he is adamant that Los Blancos deserve to be where they are in the Primera Division.
"We have no doubt [we deserve to be top]. We are where we are for the hard work being done and we are first because we have treated each match as the next big game. We don't look at anyone else, we follow what we are doing and that gets results," he added.
Karanka was filling in for the pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's encounter versus Valencia and asked why Jose Mourinho was not present, he replied: "I have given 28 or 29 press conferences, there is nothing to explain."
Quizzed about Los Che, the assistant trainer was keen to praise the team who currently sit in third place in La Liga.
"They are a team with great players and who are third in the league and in the Europa League semi-finals. [Unai] Emery is a great coach so tomorrow will be a difficult game, but we will look to create problems," he added.
Angel Di Maria, who recently returned from injury, is available for Madrid but Karanka refused to disclose whether the Argentine would start.
"He played in Pamplona last week so we will see if he will play tomorrow. He has been injured so it is important to see if he stays fit," he concluded.
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