24.09.2010 14:11

Guardiola: "San Mamés is always tough"

Roger Bogunyà

Pep Guardiola is well aware that his FC Barcelona will face a stern test on the pitch and have to be ready for the noise that the fans inside San Mamés will also generate in a bid to disturb the visitors on Saturday evening.

The Blaugrana take on Athletic Club de Bilbao in a game that ended 1-1 last term and the Catalan coach knows that his players will have to be at their best to claim all three points this time around. "If they dominate us with their play then they will beat us," he said of Athletic. "They are a strong side. It does not matter if you have a lot of tall players or not in San Mamés because they dominate anyway."

Bouncing back

"They know how to play well using direct tactics, but they also know how to battle when required like they did against Sporting," Guardiola continued. Last weekend Athletic came from two goals behind to earn a point in a 2-2 draw.

Good form

On Wednesday Barça did not have an easy outing. "If Sporting played well at the back then we needed to improve going forward," Guardiola said. "But we are doing well. There is always debate about how things are done after every game. Against Panathinaikos and Atlético de Madrid we were in good form and we did not do so well against Sporting. The team is fine and we are competing well."

Athletic praise

Guardiola then praised Athletic for sticking to their regime of only choosing players associated to the Basque Country. "Athletic have a smaller market in whcih to work in than us and they are an example of how to do things well," he commented. "This year two or three more players have come up and have been very good."