14.04.2009 23:52
Vilanova: “At this level there aren’t any easy teams”
Vanessa Forns
Tito Vilanova, who substituted for Guardiola on the Barça bench on Tuesday evening, has no illusions about the task facing the team in the CL semi-finals: “There aren’t any easy teams”.
In the other quarterfinal second leg on Tuesday evening, between Liverpool and Chelsea, the London
team managed by Guus Hiddink finally booked their place to face Barça in the semi-final after an
epic clash in Stamford Bridge. But for Tito Vilanova, the identity of the opponent is not a vital
issue: “At this level there aren’t any easy teams”.
Chelsea in attack mode
The Barça assistant coach explained: “At this point in the competition no particular
team favours us. I don’t think you can say that either of the two would be easier than the
other. Perhaps Chelsea is a more attacking team than el Liverpool, despite the fact that Liverpool
also has some attacking players up front and is more organised”.
From the preliminary phase to the last four
Vilanova highlighted the merit of reaching the semi-finals after starting out in the
preliminary qualifying phase: “We’re all very happy in the dressing room. We started
out in the preliminary phase of the Champions League and now we’re in the semi-finals.
We’ve gone from playing in the preliminary phase to be among the four best teams in
Europe”.
Focus on Getafe
Barça is still in contention in three competitions and it will be necessary to refocus
quickly ahead of the next match: “There’ll be time enough to think about the Champions
League semi-finals. Now we have to focus on the next league match away to Getafe because
maintaining or increasing our lead is at stake”.
“Every three days we’ll be playing a match that will influence our future. It
won’t be easy but if the players are OK physically it’ll be easier to win at least one
trophy”.
Match analysis
The Barça assistant coach described the match strategy in the Allianz Arena, based on control
of the ball and wearing down the opposing players: “We knew that if we managed that then they
would get tired, just as happened in the second half. We wanted to avoid fouls on the wings and to
pay special attention to high balls”.
Communication with Guardiola
Josep Guardiola was banned from the bench after being sent off in the first leg. Asked if he
had communicated with the head coach during match, Tito Vilanova was clear: “Guardiola had
already prepared the match. On this type of ground, communication with the players is pretty
complicated. But in any case, Juan Carlos watched the first half of the match with him and at the
break told us what he thought about it”.