FCBARCELONA.CAT

20.02.2009 14:53

Guardiola: "I expect the derby to be difficult"

David Puig

Pep Guardiola is expecting a forceful Espanyol team to make things as difficult for FC Barcelona as they did in the Copa del Rey when the two teams meet in the league on Saturday.

The Blaugrana coach recognised the problems that Mauricio Pochettino's side caused in the cup and has taken note as he spoke in the press conference on Friday ahead of the weekend match. "Espanyol are a very well organised team and very strong," the coach said. "They are physical and have players, like Iván Alonso, that are very good in the air. They are a team with plenty going for them and they will look to stop us from scoring. We have looked at the Copa del Rey games and I hope that we attack better than we did in both those matches, but I know that derbies are always more difficult."

Espanyol to stay up

Espanyol maybe at the foot of the table, but Guardiola does not want them to go down as he enjoys derby days. "Only Espanyol can deal with that, but I like Derbies. People are more excited and here is a great atmosphere," he explained. "The media has been talking about the game all well and they are always good matches."

Eto'o, Puyol and Messi

During the pres conference the names of Samuel Eto'o, Carles Puyol and Lionel Messi arose and Guardiola dealt with them all individually. "Eto'o has not said anything amazing and a strange debate about the squad has been generated," he continued. "I think Eto'o has been better than ever over the past two weeks. He is playing very well and scoring goals and his attitude in training and in games has been great. It is very difficult to find a forward like him, but now what is most important to talk about are the next two games, against Espanyol and Olympique Lyonnais, and then we can talk about contracts."

On Messi, the coach said that he will not start the game against Espanyol, but he has yet to decide about Puyol after he recovered from injury this week. The central defender has trained well, but has yet to be given the official green light to play.

"We are not the best team in history"

When asked about Juande Ramos' opinion that this is the best Barça team in history, Guardiola dismissed the talk. "There have been great teams in the past, like Cinco Copas (five cups) side or Johan Cruyff's team," he said. "We still have not won anything. We are just starting and do not know what will happen."