Atletico Madrid, Barrios: “I have to stop being the youngster and do something more”

Pablo BarriosAtletico Madrid midfielder, gave a long interview to Marca, speaking about his summer: “It was very nice with the gold won at the Olympics. Then the season is proving to be very exciting with the team we are building, with the new people who have arrived and we hope it will be a great year. There are so many very beautiful moments that I have experienced… At the Olympics we were a great group, we had a lot of fun, but obviously bringing home the medal was the best”.

Did you cut your vacation short or take a few weeks off?
“The Games were over, the final was on Friday and the following week I was with the team, because La Liga had already started.”

Before going to the Games he had said that this season he wanted to take a step forward.
“This season has just started, it’s very long, but as I said, this year I have to take a step, stop being the young player I was and be something more. I have to train hard every day to be able to improve.”

How did you achieve this change of mindset?
“The Pablo I am now is not the same one who made his debut almost two years ago. This period has obviously helped me improve and mature both on and off the pitch. The truth is that it went very well for me.”

There is a lot of competition in midfield.
“A lot of new people have come in, but I think it’s good that new people come in to help the team and it’s always good that there’s competition, not just in my position, but in all of them. I think that makes us better each other, it’s time to train and compete for a place in the eleven.”

How is the transition to midfield going?
“It’s true that this year we play a little differently, more with two midfielders. I’ve said many times that I’m not interested in playing as a midfielder or as a midfielder, for me what matters is playing and I don’t care where and as long as I help the team it’s fine.”

Club World Cup or European Under-21 Championship at the end of the season?
“I don’t know, I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it yet, but come on, whatever they tell me will be fine.”