FCBARCELONA.CAT

08.05.2010 23:59

“It’s not over yet”

Jordi Clos

Pep Guardiola was typically cautious after the important win over Seville, telling the media: “we’re not champions yet”. The boss also praised his players’ reaction in such a high pressure game.

A win against Valladolid at the Nou Camp next week will give Barca the title, but Guardiola’s first words in his post match press conference were a warning: “this is not over; we’ve not won it yet. We can’t go into the last game thinking it’s all done and dusted. We are lucky that it’s in our own hands, but we have to win it. We’ll be up against a team who are fighting for their lives in this division. I know Javier Clemente well and he will prepare a team to press us and defend en masse, whilst they wait for their chance”.

“Admirable”

The game over Seville was targeted by many as Barca’s toughest game in their run in, but they come through with flying colours according to the boss: “you have to look at the game as a whole and our performance was admirable. We were very good in the first half and at the start of the second. Even though we had quite a tough time after the Seville goals, we controlled things well in those last 20 minutes and only Stankevicius’ coming up the flank worried us”.

“Unbelievable League”

Returning to next week’s game, Guardiola insisted: “we have to win and that’s what we’ll be trying to do. These games can be very difficult with all the fuss surrounding them and we have to prepare for it calmly. The title’s very close now, but this is an unbelievable league: we’ve got 96 points, but with Madrid on 95, we’re still not champions”.