FCBARCELONA.CAT

04.03.2009 23:59

“There is no victory like reaching the final”

Vanessa Forns

Guardiola could not hide his delight after Barça made it through to the final of the Copa del Rey after a tense semi final second leg against Mallorca as he said “it will be marvellous” and “there is nothing more victorious than reaching a final”.

Eleven years after the last time, the Blaugrana are back in the cup final after winning the first game against Mallorca in Camp Nou and drawing the game on Wednesday evening in the Ono Estadi. Now Athletic Club await and the Barça coach reflected on the difficulties his side had in setting up a game against the Basque Country outfit. “It is good that people see the players giving everything and working so hard,” he said. “With the strength that we have shown to come back we deserved to reach the final as a result.”

Recovered the intensity

Asked about the fact that Barcelona have now gone five games without a win, despite qualifying for the final, Guardiola said: “There is nothing more victorious than reaching a final. The players have rediscovered the intensity that we had. I have seen things in the past few days again that we had lost.”

“It will be a marvellous final”

Looking ahead to the final on May 13, Guardiola stated that “it will be marvellous against a great team like Athletic Club and in a stadium as good as Valencia’s. It is very positive for the team and will give us confidence”.

Good for the team

“For many years Barça have not reached a final. The fact that we have done so shows that we are doing things well,” the coach continued. “The players have done so much. This will strengthen us as a team to be able to look forward at all the competitions that we are in. I am delighted with the attitude of the players.”

Analysing the game

On the windy conditions in the Ono Estadi, Guardiola said that “it effected the game a lot”. He continued: “It was a difficult game because of that, but we were strong when things became complicated. We have controlled things from the start and Iniesta had a good chance to score. Then the goal close to half-time did make us think, but during the break we were able to reorganize and we came out looking better. Nobody said it was going to be easy and to reach the final you have to play games like this with a certain amount of anxiety. Things in semi finals are rarely conclusive.”