The boss is well aware that Madrid won’t come to the Nou Camp next week and meekly lie down and die: “they are a club with 9 European Cups to their name and they never admit a game is lost till it’s over. I’ve seen them many times, as a kid, as a player and as a manager and they never give up. We now need to recover our strength, emotionally and tactically”, for next week’s game.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves”

Guardiola called for caution and prudence from the fans, the Club and the players: “I’m asking everyone not to fall into the trap of thinking that we have won something which we still have to compete for-let’s not get ahead of ourselves and mix up our desire to get to Wembley with the fact we aren’t there yet. We’ve won the first leg 0-2, but not the final. Nine European Cups –that says it all. We now have to control the atmosphere”.

Congratulations to the players

The boss was also pleased with his team’s performance: “we played a very good game against 11 and then against 10. We controlled the danger of their counter attacks and their aerial threat. We won the game by our control and waiting for Leo to make the difference. It was a good result and I want to congratulate my team a lot”.

Praise for Messi

Pep went on to stress the importance of Messi’s role in the game: “it’s not the first time he’s done this, we are so lucky to have him. He’s only 23 and he’s now the third leading scorer at the Club, with its long, long history. That says it all. It’s incredible, that’s what is beautiful about our game and our football”.

Mourinho’s comments

Guardiola was asked what he thought of Mourinho’s post match comments and simply said “nothing”. He also refused to speak about the referee’s performance.