11.04.2009 23:16
“These are the games that can win you things”
Vanessa Forns
Josep Guardiola is very pleased with this Saturday’s win over Recreativo as he thinks that it is games like this one that “can win you things”.
This Saturday’s game was tricky as coming down off Wednesday’s Champions League win
wasn’t easy, but the team did it. “Today it was vital to win,” said Guardiola.
“It was tough but everyone tried hard. It’s a really important win as we now have 75
points and are a bit closer to our goal.”
Job done
Josep Guardiola made his view of the match clear. “Wins like the one against Valladolid
after the break for international games, and this one after a Champions League fixture; it’s
games like these which in the end win you things,” he said. “We were lacking a bit of
drive but we came back and now we’re nine points ahead, though no doubt tomorrow it’ll
be six. We’ve done our job and we deserved to win.”
Caution
Guardiola also spoke about next Tuesday’s second leg Champions League quarter final
game at Bayern Munich. “It’ll be a good test,” he said, “and we’ll
have to be really careful.”
“Bayern can score four goals and even more so when they’re on the back
foot,” he added. “I don’t believe it when they say the tie’s over.
I’m sure they’ll be up for it and Ribéry and co. are dangerous players. We need to go
there thinking we have to win, because otherwise they’ll be all over us.”
Touchline ban in Munich
UEFA have given Guardiola a one game touchline ban after the first leg. “I’d been
told that UEFA usually turn down this sort of appeal,” he commented. “I’ll be in
the stand but that’s no problem and a secondary issue. The fact that I won’t be on the
bench doesn’t affect things much and Tito Vilanova will do a great job.”
Praise
The scorer of Barça’s first goal, Andrés Iniesta, was praised by his manager who said
that all the players put in fine performances: “I’m pleased for Iniesta. Sometimes
he’s a bit down because he wants to score more goals than he does, but as long as he keeps
doing what he does we’re more than happy. He’s special in so many ways.”
“I do care what Madrid does”
Finally, Guardiola said that Real Madrid’s results do matter to him: “I do care
what Madrid does. I’d prefer results that are good for us. We still have to get a lot of
points to be champions and I reckon they’re not going to drop that many.”
Laporta: “We’ve achieved our goal”
After the 2-0 win over Recreativo Huelva, Joan Laporta was very happy with a week in which the
first team has made an excellent start in its Champions League quarter final tie and strengthened
its position at the top of the League. “Our goal was to get the results we’ve got.
We’re picking up the points and we’re very happy with how the week has gone,”
said the club chairman. “It’s always hard switching your mindset from one competition
to another, but we’ve done it and got three very important points.”
As for Tuesday’s Champions League clash in the Allianz Arena, the Barça chairman was
cautious: “Bayern have scored four this Saturday. Even though we’ve got a good lead,
the tie is still alive and we’ll need to be on the top of our game to get through.”