“We have to win this point”, says Guardiola the day Barça have the first opportunity to win the League

Barcelona (FCB).- This the first match ball for Barça. In fact, if Real Madrid do not win this Tuesday evening against Getafe, Barça will be champions anyway and Wednesday’s game with Llevant will be purely academic. But FC Barcelona’s coach Pep Guardiola is not resting on his laurels, saying “it seems as if we’ve already got the point, but we haven’t”. “We have to win this point”, concluded Guardiola.

Guardiola knows he has no control over what Madrid might do against Getafe, so all he can do is ensure his team is “well prepared mentally because you have to win points, they don’t give them away”.

Difficult League

Guardiola doesn’t think the League campaign has been any harder than his first two as manager, and thinks people are only saying that because the events are fresher on the mind. “It was hard every year” he said, and added that he really didn’t think they’d be eight points clear at this stage of the season. “I thought it would be decided in Malaga” he said.

Careful with Llevant

Whatever happens to Madrid, Pep expects a tough test in Valencia on Wednesday night against a side that was in danger of relegation for some time. But now “they are almost safe … they deserve top honours for what they have done this season.”

Piqué one of the best

Guardiola also spoke about Gerard Piqué, who got the second goal on Sunday night against Espanyol. “He has been one of the club’s best signings and they did the right thing bringing him back. They sensed his potential, especially Txiki and Tito, who first saw him as a youth player. He has been surprisingly competitive, especially in big matches … this last month and a half he has been one of the best centre backs in the world”.

Villa important

Guardiola also refuses to accept the criticism on David Villa for his low scoring records in the last two months. “There is never a game in which he doesn’t get into goalscoring positions. He always generates them.” Guardiola feels Villa has been a fundamental part of the team this season, and highlighted his ability to create space. “Next season, he’ll be more comfortable because the first year is never easy at this club”.

A living club

Guardiola was delighted that there were more than 96,000 applications for tickets to go to the Champions League Final at Wembley on May 28^th. He stated that this shows how much “this club is alive”.

 

THE DETAIL

“Dream Team” inimitable

Although Guardiola’s Barça has set record after record and is eclipsing some of the finest teams that FC Barcelona has ever had, the manager does not think his players could ever equal what the Cruyff’s “Dream Team” did. “No matter how many titles we win, they can never be equalled, because they were the pioneers. You can never equal what they did because they were the generation that ended that long period without winning, and created this continuity both in style and titles”.