Josep Guardiola expressed his satisfaction with his players’ performance against Racing and also with their consistently high level they are putting in: “that’s what makes this team great”, he declared.
The boss believes: “the team played better than people think –
it’s hard to prepare for so many games on the run, but that’s what makes this
team great”.
Good response to Betis defeat
Guardiola was “very satisfied” with the win over
Racing, explaining: “it was a cold night, and after losing the last game and
the effort we put in, this was a potentially tricky game, but both the players and the fans
responded in their own way to the circumstances in an exceptional manner”.
Valdés
Looking beyond
the goals of Messi, Pedro and Iniesta,
Guardiola reserved his praise for Victor Valdes, stressing: “we made a lot
of chances again, but I want to congratulate Victor for his performance. It’s not easy to
take part in a game when you are only intermittently called on, especially with this cold, and make
great stops like his from Adrian”.
Focus on Almeria and Hercules
Guardiola also claimed: “it’s an honour to equal Rijkaard’s
team’s record” of 14 successive league wins, but stressed that he is focussed now on
the
Almeria and
Hercules games: “we need the Stadium to be full on Wednesday, because we are
in the semi finals and we want a hand from the fans. We are just a couple of games from reaching
the final in April. Saturday’s game is one of the most complicated trips we’ll have in
the league – it’ll be a tough game against Hercules”.
Bojan
Finally,
Guardiola had words of praise for
Bojan and
Keita:
Bojan: “is a young player who is still learning and he does everything we
ask of him. I want him to do what he did today. He gives us a lot and he will continue to do so. We
need to help him a lot and he has to be strong. He is very talented and he’ll get through
whatever he has to His movement is spectacular and I don’t want him judged just on whether he
scores or not”.
Keita
As for
Keita,
Guardiola once again stressed the importance of
Keita to the squad: “there is nobody else like him. He’s irreplaceable
for this type of game. We all need to learn from him. He’s untouchable for me. He has a
generosity in understanding the situation that makes him irreplaceable. I hope he continues to have
that patience”.
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Bartomeu happy for fans
Straight after the win, Josep Maria Bartomeu stressed the high level of football the team had
produced against Racing, rewarding the fans who braved the low temperatures to come along and see
the game. Bartomeu also praised the team for equalling Rijkaard’s team’s winning run,
whilst stressing: “the most important thing is that we go into the business end of the season
with all our options open”. He also praised Racing, claiming: “they made their chances
and they made Valdes work with some good stops”.
The Club Vice-President called on the fans to come and support the team on Wednesday night:
“we are up against a much improved Almeria and I hope the fans again come and show their
support for the team, as they have done all season”.
Finally, Bartomeu spoke about the negotiations with Dani Alves over his contract renewal:
“we have been a while talking about his renewal. He’s a player we are very interested
in and we know he wants to stay. When both parts want a player to stay, there can be a happy
ending”.