FCBARCELONA.CAT

30.01.2009 13:52

Gudjohnsen: “That was a lesson”

Jordi Clos

Eidur Gudjohnsen believes that the fact that FC Barcelona had to suffer in the last few minutes of their Copa del Rey tie with Espanyol showed that the team could not afford to relax and now had to be at their best in the visit to Racing Santander.

Speaking to the media the day after the Blaugrana progressed to the semi finals of the cup following a 3-2 win against the Blanc i Blau, the Icelandic international explained: “We are through to the semi that is very important because it means that we have won another match. Despite that though, the feeling towards the end of the game shows that relaxing can cause problems. In the last 25 minutes we suffered too much for a game in which we were 3-0 ahead.”

Squad rotations

“This season we have shown that we can win despite suffering some games,” Gudjohnsen continued. “That is one the team’s strengths. We have used a lot of energy and had to be focussed in every game, but I know that we have a big squad with so much quality and, thanks to the squad rotation by the coach, there are fresh players available for each match.”

No relaxing

Barça’s next game is against Racing Santander on Sunday in El Sardinero and Gudjohnsen knows it will not be easy. “These types of games are always complicated,” he said. “But we have already made great strides in the league and we can make another. We have to go into every game as if it were a final now because it appears that things are in our hands, but we know that we cannot afford to relax because our rivals are waiting. We cannot forget to remain calm and to work hard, which is always difficult. I have already seen in the last two years that if we are not at our best then we could end up winning nothing.”