FCBARCELONA.CAT

06.04.2010 23:59

Guardiola praises the club

Anna Segura

As well as praising his players for the performance against Arsenal, Pep Guardiola stressed the importance of the win to the club as a whole: “four semi finals in five years shows what a good state this institution is in”.

The boss warned at the start of the season that it wouldn’t be easy to repeat last year’s astonishing achievements, but with a ticket for the European Cup semis in their pocket, the team are certainly keeping the fans hopes alive.

Success and humility

Guardiola knows the club as well as anybody and was quick to point out the significance of his team’s success to the institution he has been a part of for so long: “I want to congratulate the club, as well as the team, for reaching three consecutive semi finals and four in the last five years. Especially because we have done it with the same tone - it speaks loads for the humility of the players. Tonight we convinced again, not just with the result, but also with the way we achieved it”.

Messi

Guardiola paid tribute to the whole team, but of course he had special words for the hero of the hour – Leo Messi: “I’m very happy for him. I can’t explain what it is that he’s got about him, you just have to watch it and enjoy!”

Enjoying the win

Guardiola wants his players to enjoy tonight’s win before they turn their focus to Saturday’s big league game against Madrid: “getting to the semi finals is motive enough to just talk about that right now, but it’s true that we go to Madrid as semi finalists, just one step away from a European final and that will give us a boost for the rest of the league season”.

Inter Milan

As to the team Barca will have to beat to reach that final, Guardiola insisted: “they are a stronger than ever right now. They are really focussed on this competition and that makes them more dangerous. They are competitive and all of their players have got what it takes to compete at this level – I would have preferred another team”.