FCBARCELONA.CAT

01.03.2009 22:00

Guardiola: “We will bounce back”

Vanessa Forns

Pep Guardiola stated that FC Barcelona would correct the mistakes that they made in the defeat against Atlético de Madrid on Sunday that the coach described as “a crazy game”.

The Blaugrana let slip a two-goal lead against Los Colchoneros and the Catalan trainer admitted that “these types of games do not suit us” before conceding that the team “is not doing as well” s they were in games earlier in the season.

Onwards and upwards

Despite the reverse, Guardiola believes that the team will not be affected by the defeat and thinks that they will bounce back. “We will recover and continue to move onwards and upwards,” he said. “We have been beaten in a very emotional game and I must congratulate Atlético. Now we have to think about our next game.”

Direct play

Having gained an impressive lead early on, Guardiola admitted that his team had not been able to stop Atlético’s direct style of play and put their own pattern on the game. “When a team has the ball like they did you have to be attentive,” he said. “Atlético played very direct and they created problems. The game was backwards and forwards constantly, a typical match between Atlético de Madrid and Barcelona.”

“Nobody said it would be easy”

Reflecting on Real Madrid having made up eight points in recent weeks on Barça, Guardiola was philosophical. “We were on a good run, but we have dropped quite a few points,” he said. “We have to refocus ourselves because nobody said this would be easy. League campaigns are long, with potholes, but we are still in a good position.”

“The team is not tired”

Guardiola then denied that the players’ physical condition was to blame for the last few inconsistent results. “I do think the team is tired,” he stated. “We always finish games strongly, with the intention to win. In football there are many factors. I think that in Sevilla against Betis we played well and for a long time against Espanyol with ten men too.”