FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.05.2009 23:59

Laporta: “It’s historic”

Roger Bogunyà

Speaking on a special Barça TV programme about the club winning the League title, Joan Laporta said that what is happening this month “is historic”.

“It’s our fifth double and I hope people enjoy it,” said Barça chairman Joan Laporta. “I know they’ll be celebrating at Canaletes in Barcelona, and these are victories you have to celebrate with passion and have a good time and be respectful.” He went on to say that “the first person I congratulated was Guardiola”.

Absolute confidence

Laporta indentified two key moments in the season. The first was defeat at Numancia: “We all knew we’d lose sometime and it happened at the start which gave us time to do something about it.” Then the second was losing to Atlético Madrid at Calderón: “That was real blow, as we’d practically won the game. But we stayed calm and believed in ourselves.” The club chairman has always had faith in Guardiola

Guardiola’s role

This in fact was one of the crucial factors in this season’s success. “One of the really important things is that the manager believes his players are really good,” argued Laporta. “That brings you peace of mind every weekend. He believes in his team and in what it can do, and he’s had a lot of moral authority.”

Want records

Joan Laporta thinks there are still things that can be done in the League. “I know the players want to beat records,” he commented. “I know they want to beat the record of 107 goals, for instance.”

He also believes the team is making Barça history. “The six goals at Bernabéu betters other results such as the 0-5 in 1974,” he argued. “And Bakero’s goal at Kaiserslautern now has a challenger in Iniesta’s at Stamford Bridge.”