FCBARCELONA.CAT

27.04.2009 18:48

Guardiola: “I know the team won’t fail”

Vanessa Forns

Josep Guardiola has confidence in his players and is sure that Barça “won’t fail” in Tuesday’s clash with Chelsea. However, he believes the tie will be decided in London.

“With full tanks”. That’s how Guardiola described his players before this Tuesday’s first leg in their semi-final clash with Chelsea in the Champions League at Camp Nou. He says he is an optimistic person and believes in his players: “I know them and I believe in them. I have a lot of faith in my team”.

“We’ll play a good game”

Guardiola is sure Camp Nou will be packed to the rafters to support the side in their quest to reach the final on 27 May in Rome. The importance of the game and the need to come up to the fans’ expectations means “the team won’t fail”. “I’m convinced we’ll play a good game,” he said.

Stamford Bridge is a tricky venue

Barça need to score as many goals as possible and not let in any if they want to have a good chance at Stamford Bridge. But whatever the result on Tuesday, Guardiola believes the tie will be decided in London. “No-one goes to Stamford Bridge thinking they’ll have an easy game,” he argued.

Loyal to the Barça way

When asked about how Barça would play against the Londoners, Guardiola said that they knew they were up against a very strong team, “but as always we’ll be going for it. That’s the way we always play. We try to do things well, and respect our opponents. Sometimes it all goes well and other times not so well. Wherever we play we always try to win the game. That’s how it’s going to be while I’m manager here. The closer you are to the limits, the braver you have to be.”

Chelsea’s strengths

As for Guus Hiddink’s side, Guardiola highlighted things like their physical strength, experience and danger in the air: “Chelsea impressed me when I watched them. They’ve got some very powerful players with a lot of experience. I reckon it’ll be an evenly balanced tie in which we have to control the game and attack in a disciplined way. Their players are a lot more powerful than ours and are dangerous in the air.”