Royston Drenthe said he was happy to see Pepe at Valdebebas again. The Dutchman also mentioned he believes Mallorca will play a strong game on Sunday.

How was Pepe today?
I’m very happy to see him smile again. He was joking around. I think he’s better and that everything is going well.

Sergio Ramos is suspended for the match. Do you think you could make the starting eleven?
Lass will also miss the game, but it’s up to the coach to decide. If I happen to play, I will do my best for my team and I will prove I always want the best for us. This is a large squad, so we’ll see what happens. It’s still too soon to know.

It seems Barcelona are having a bad start to the new year…
That’s easy to say. It’s what people said about us last year. Barcelona losing to Sevilla is something that can happen because the latter is a good team. I believe every side can lose a game.

You’ve been here for some years now and you’ve always been a very nice guy. Are you happy in 2010?
I’m nearly 23 years old and I feel happy about everything. I like to train and play every day, and my family is with me. That’s important because I wouldn’t be able to play football if it wasn’t for them. I will be able to show who I am in 2010.

Would Real Madrid benefit from Barcelona staying in the Copa del Rey?
We don’t play in that competition, which gives us more time to train on one particular match, but who knows what will happen. Barcelona played in the Copa last year too and ended up winning every title.

Mallorca are having a good run…
I think they are playing rather well and they are currently high on the league table. They will play a strong game and we will have to concentrate hard to win the match.

How did you feel yesterday when you watched the match between Racing Santander and Alcorcon?
That’s in the past now. We lost and they won, that’s all. We can’t go back to that again. We are now doing a good job. We haven’t played like that again.