Josep Guardiola has warned that Racing are capable of causing Barça problems if his team fail to play with maximum concentration. The boss also commented on Alves’ and Pinto’s situation.
“If we don’t control the ball, we will have problems against Racing”. Guardiola
warned during Friday’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s opener to the second half
of the season: “Racing play like Betis or Malaga, with a good defensive set up and with
players who use the flanks and try to play good football. I know the team and the players and
I’ve seen that especially in their last few games”.
The boss has drawn his conclusions from the Betis defeat, revealing:
“I saw what we did well and what we didn’t. I’ve still not spoken to the players
about it, maybe I will on Saturday or next week. Sometimes it can be good to lose a game which
doesn’t involve dropping points or getting knocked out. The lessons to be drawn from the
defeat will be discussed with the players sooner or later”.
Alves contract talks
Commenting on Dani Alves’ contract talks, Pep expressed his belief that:
“Alves will be a Barça player for the next few years. As far as I know, negotiations
haven’t broken down. I don’t think the situation will distract him either, though if
that does happen we will all help him, but his form hasn’t dipped at all since he began
talking with the club about this”.
Bojan and Pinto
Guardiola praised Bojan for his attitude in the Betis game, claiming:
“I am more than happy with the game he put in and he knows it. He made four or five excellent
moves, which his teammates weren’t able to pick out. There is always a tendency to look for a
scapegoat when a team loses, but it’s the whole team who are responsible for winning or
losing”.
As for Pinto, the boss reiterated his confidence in his keeper and announced:
“he’ll be in goal for the Cup Final if we get there and he’ll definitely start
the two semi-final games, because he deserves it and he’s a fantastic keeper. He’s
always performed at a high level and he did against Betis too”.
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Jeffren injury
Guardiola expressed his regret at the injury to Jeffren, which will keep him out for the next five
weeks: “it’s bad news. The poor guy was really upset about it yesterday, but he’s
better today. He’s not played much, but he uses space better than anybody and defensively is
as good as Pedro. He’s an explosive player and he’s always shown in training that he
wants to win a place in the team. We’ll look to have him back soon and hope he doesn’t
get injured again”.