FCBARCELONA.CAT

16.03.2010 19:05

Guardiola: “it’s a marvellous challenge”

Jordi Clos

Only one team has won the Champions League title and made it into the quarter finals the following season and Pep Guardiola is excited at the prospect of Barca becoming the second.

Guardiola told the media at Tuesday’s pre-match press conference: “it’s a marvellous challenge to try and imitate Manchester United and get through to the last eight”. Bearing in mind the 1-1 scoreline from the first leg, Pep is clear what his players have to do on Wednesday: “we have to attack and keep the ball away from them – if we don’t, we won’t get through. We’ll not sit back on the draw”.

Looking back to last Sunday, Guardiola made it clear that: “if we play like we did in the first half the other day, we can forget it, but if we play as we did in the second, we could go a long way

Henry and Messi

Barca’s two stars on Sunday were Messi and Henry and Guardiola spoke about them both: “I’m very satisfied with the game Henry played. As a manager you cannot think that things aren’t going well with a player because he’s not up for it. There have to be other reasons, sometimes tactics, which affect him”. As to the World Player of the Year, the boss explained his recent position playing in the hole behind the strikers: “he is capable of playing well all over the park if the team are in synch. He’s not a static player. We pulled him into the centre because he didn’t seem to be getting involved as much and when you have a good player, then the more he intervenes, the better”.

Guardiola refused to comment on Alexander Hleb’s position in the future –he is currently on loan at Stuttgart - and was also tight lipped as to Puyol and Keita’s presence on Wednesday night.

Respect for opponents

Questioned about Madrid’s elimination last week, Guardiola reiterated: “of course the same thing could happen to us. This is a great competition. It’s a warning to us, but the players are very excited about the game against Stuttgart, who are a team whose results should speak for themselves. We could lose, but we haven’t won all we have by underestimating our opponents”. Guardiola also acknowledged the importance of the fans to his team’s success: “they are vital. We need the fans to come along. We are much stronger with them behind us”.