FCBARCELONA.CAT

07.04.2009 14:03

Puyol: “No room for excuses”

Berta Brau

Club Captain Carles Puyol made clear the team’s attitude going into tomorrow’s tie with Bayern this lunchtime, telling reporters: “we believe Barca can win. We’re looking for a good result that will set us up to get through to the next round”.

As always, Puyol was respectful of his opponents, but assured the fans: “we’ll be aggressive in attack and in defence”.

As Barca begin their final push for European glory, Puyol doesn’t want to hear any talk of tiredness or burnout: “the motivation to win gives you all the strength you need to keep going. The team’s playing well right now and there’s no room for excuses”.

Aggression

True to their own way of playing, Barca will go out with just one idea –attack. According to Puyol: “we have to play aggressively, both defensively and in attack”. As for an ideal result, Puyol was clear in his wishes: “they don’t score and we do!”.

Dangerous Bayern

However Puyol is also conscious of the danger of the German team. “they are a big club, with great players and an impressive history. They have players who can win the game and we’ll have to be careful – they are going to be dangerous”. At the back, Barca will have to watch out for Luca Toni and Ribéry: “a player who is very fast with the ball at his feet and loves to come at you”, according to Puyol.

No favourite for the tie

Carles Puyol also insisted that there was no sense of superiority in the Barca squad: “we have a lot of respect for them. At this stage of the competition all the teams are good” Puyol also reckoned that the German’s weekend setback might well spur them on: “they’re going to come out even more motivated now and that just makes them more dangerous”.