FCBARCELONA.CAT

23.03.2010 14:16

Guardiola: “there’s no such thing as tiredness”

Roger Bogunyà

Josep Guardiola is sure that his team won’t be feeling any tiredness as they enter the final stages of the season.

“There’s no such thing as being tired at this stage of the campaign” he told reporters this lunchtime, adding “it’s only in the first part of the season that you can live off your memories of what you achieved last year”.

Barca face a really tough set of fixtures over the next few weeks, with. Osasuna, Mallorca, Arsenal, Bilbao, Arsenal and Madrid awaiting them in the space of just 21 days, but Pep Guardiola insists: “tiredness is all in your mind. When the players see that we can relive last year’s success, tiredness just doesn’t enter into it”.

“We know what we’ve achieved”

Guardiola reckons the team have recovered: “that competitive tone” which made them so dangerous, but warned: “if you want to compete for titles, you have to reach a point of excellence. We know where we are coming from and what we have achieved – these players must have something going for them. We’re in the quarter finals of the Champions League. We have to visit grounds where elements other than just sporting could play a part, but the team looks good to me”.

Camacho, a great motivator

Guardiola played under Osasuna’s manager Camacho when he was in charge of the Spanish team and he admitted: “I learnt a lot from him, things like how to manage a group. He’s a person with a lot of personality and very clear ideas and he does everything with a lot of intensity, He’s a great motivator. We’ll have to take the game very seriously”.

Ibrahimovic and Messi

The boss also fielded questions about his attacking options for the Osasuna game, specifically about Messi and Ibrahimovic, again reiterating that against Zaragoza Ibra “really showed good movement and was much more involved”. He also revealed that “Messi is so respected by the rest of the squad that all the praise he’s getting generates a good atmosphere. It’s good for the team because he takes it all in his stride”.