Guardiola: �Granada will be a good test�

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24.10.2011 14:07

Guardiola: �Granada will be a good test�

Anna Segura

The boss is well aware that his players �have put in a lot of effort in a short time� and that Tuesday�s game will be �a good test for us�, whilst alerting his squad to the threat that Granada pose.

�Puyol will be available against Mallorca�

Pep Guardiola wasn’t too worried about the continued absence of his captain Carles Puyol and explained that the injury he’s got “is not very much at all. He should be in training on Wednesday and available for the Mallorca game. It’s only normal that he’s had these slight difficulties after such a long layoff”.

Three days after the Seville game, Bar�a face another league match - against Granada on Tuesday night. The Andaluc�a team have not played Bar�a in the league for 35 years and are this season struggling in the bottom three, but Guardiola insisted at his press conference at the Ciutat Esportiva this lunchtime that Granada are “brave, willing to take risks and very dynamic – a number of their bad results haven’t been deserved at all”.

Different game than against Seville

“We think we will be in for a different game than we had against Seville”, according to Guardiola, “it’ll be a good test for us. We have put in a lot of effort in a short time and we’ll have to see how we respond”, However, the boss has no complaints about his players’ attitude: “if all the draws and defeats we have get the same response from them, there will be no problem” and also insisted that there is still a long way to go in the league: “there are still 90 points to play for”.

All cleared up between Cesc and Kanout�

Cesc F�bregas and Frederic Kanout� announced on Twitter this weekend that they had spoken on the phone and resolved the incident that led to the Seville player’s red card on Saturday night and Guardiola closed the door on the incident, insisting “it’s been cleared up”.

Messi and Villa

Guardiola mentioned a number of players during the press conference today, including Leo Messi and David Villa. About the Argentinean’s reaction to the missed penalty on Saturday, he claimed: “the fans reacted fantastically. He’s fine and getting his strength back . There’s really no time to enjoy all the good things, or get down about the bad ones –it’s all part of the game”.

“Thanks to Villa, we are able to play such good football –he’s had to adapt to the team and the coaches here and he’s had the humility to do that . Others wouldn’t have done it after all the things he had achieved”.

Llevant leadership

The boss also insisted that Llevant’s position at the top of the table: “isn’t just a coincidence” and he complemented them on their great start to the season: “they‘ve done things really well –that’s why they are top. They did well last season and their defence is a key part of their success, it’s spectacular”.