19.10.2008 22:11
Guardiola stresses value of Bilbao win
Vanessa Forns
Josep Guardiola stressed the importance of the win at San Mames - a ground he recognized as “mythical” and which is traditionally a tough place to visit against a home side whose traditional direct style makes things even harder for visitors.
Speaking to reporters after the 0-1 win, Guardiola insisted: “we know that when you come here
you have to play well and go all out or else it’s very hard to get a win. It’s
impossible to win at San Mames if you aren’t strong in the tackle, aggressive and dominant in
the air, If you are not careful about those things they’ll just roll over you, because they
are strong and young and aggressive, What’s more, this time round they’ve had fifteen
days to prepare for us coming”.
Praise for Bilbao
Guardiola was also full of praise for Caparros’ young team: “Bilbao are a team
who have never gone down to the second division and many times that’s been down to their
pride and self belief. They’ve got some good players and if you’re not on your toes
when you play them, they can create a lot of problems”.
“Brave “performance
As to his own team, Guardiola reckoned they had been “brave” but also “not
brilliant”, admitting “you are always going to find it hard at a ground like this, even
when you’re winning”, whilst insisting “I value this win much more than the one
over Atletico Madrid”.
Víctor Sánchez
The boss was also happy with the performance of Víctor Sánchez, explaining: “he’s
a player I know very well and I have a lot of confidence in him. He played well tonight and
although I was thinking of bringing him off in the second half, he’s such a strong lad I
decided to keep him on”.
Injuries
With three players coming out of the game with injuries, Guardiola reckoned: “this
week, with the international games and this evenings match, we’ve lost a lot of players, but
I’ve got a strong squad available and I’m not too worried”.
Messi misses out
Lionel Messi has also been away with Argentina over the last fortnight and Gua:rdiola
explained that this was why he’d left him on the bench for the San Mames game:
“he’d been away for 10 days with the change in time zone and all that implies, so I
decided for that reason to leave him on the bench and not use him in the end”.