Schuster insists he didn't talk his way out of Real Madrid job

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."