Barça have dropped two points at El Molinón, but can still come away with their heads held high. Pep Guardiola described the 1-1 result as follows: “I am not satisfied with a point. If you don’t win it’s not a good result. I’d have been satisfied if things hadn’t gone as they did”. But the manager was happy with the way his team played, especially in the second half: “Just because we’re Barça doesn’t mean we should always win, we can lose or draw if that’s how it is. Insisting, insisting and insisting.”

Difficult opponent

The second half was a monologue of Barça pressure on a team enclosed in its own half. Guardiola was impressed by the tactics deployed by Preciado. “I think Sporting played perfect, Manolo approached the game well … We didn’t win but we did all we could to do so. It is not easy to attack against ten defenders”. The Barça manager said he had “expected a game like this … We knew they’d come out strong”.

No complaints

On the first half, when Barça were a goal down to Sporting, Pep Guardiola said “we can’t judge it as a question of aggressiveness, after three years we can’t go falling into that trap.” Neither did he feel the international break was to blame. “At Barça you have to go out and compete every three days and these players have shown they can do that millions of times”.

He then added that “I know why this game was much harder for us, it’s a question of movements and we were lacking depth … we’re not unbeatable.” He went on to say that “I have no complaints. We go all around Spain showing people who we are and that is already enough.”

The winning streak

The draw at Sporting has brought an end to the stunning run of sixteen consecutive league wins. Said Guardiola, “when a run like that comes to an end you value it even more, because we have won at grounds like this … We should have to play in more places like this where the team plays for their lives. It’s terribly tough to have to compete with them.”