Guardiola: “You need to lose to appreciate things”
Vanessa Forns
Josep Guardiola is delighted to have made the cup semi finals at the expense of such a fine side as Betis. But he added that the defeat at the Benito Villamarín was a reminder of the great things this team has achieved.
Barça made good of their 5-0 lead from the first leg to go into the semis of the Copa del Rey,
where they’ll face Almeria. He also sees the good side of losing 3-1 because it all goes to
show how “hard everything is to do, there is a lot of effort behind all this and all our
opponents are good … the only way we can get better is by analysing these mistakes … We
have to lose to appreciate things”.
Nothing is easy
Guardiola went on to speak of the end of their famous unbeaten run. “It takes
a lot to go 28 matches without losing” he said. “We have had to be persistent to do
that. This result shows how hard everything is and was good for putting us in our place.”
Praise for Betis
The FCB manager had said in his pre-match press conference that he had nothing but
admiration for Betis. “When we analysed our opponent, we knew it was going to be a tough tie.
We knew full well that we’d have trouble, and that was the case. I want to congratulate
Betis, a historic team that has always played good football, and who have top quality players. They
are solid side, and are top of the Second Division by chance. Given all that, beating a team like
that is something I value highly.”
Afellay’s full debut
Ibrahim Afellay was named in the starting eleven for the first time since joining
FC Barcelona and Guardiola was delighted with what he saw. “He gets free and calls for the
ball a lot. He had a good game. I like players that get involved, that try and that ask for the
ball.”
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8-0 repeat impossible against Almeria
Almeria provide the test for FC Barcelona in the semi finals of the Copa del Rey, but Guardiola is
not expecting a repeat of the drubbing the Catalans dished out in their earlier league encounter:
“I have always evaluated our opponents. There is no way the 8-0 will be repeated. People make
assumptions of the big teams, but you don’t win things until they are over.”