FCBARCELONA.CAT

07.11.2009 23:48

Players blame high winds for problems

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The cold and especially the wind, made it difficult for Barca to perform at their very best against Mallorca, but the team's efficiency in front of goal proved enough to see off the Balearic team.

"It's as if we've brought some of the Russian weather back with us”, joked Touré Yaya and the climate, combined with well organised and disciplined opponents, certainly didn't help Barca develop their usual flowing football.

Despite the weather, the more than 77.000 fans were treated to four goals - two from Pedro who received a standing ovation from the crowd and commented: “that means a lot to me and I'm very happy with it. Now I just need to relax and get on with my work”.

Here are some of the players post match comments:

Touré

"We always want to go out and win. This was an important three points against a team like Mallorca and the wind also made it tough for us”.

"We want to produce the football we did last year and I think we are on the right track. We are finding we don't have much time to train – this week for example, we have international games. That said, we are a very professional group and we keep working to improve”.

Pedro

"I'm very happy with my goals and for the the win. I've got to thank my teammates. Ibra gave me a great pass for the first goal. I was coming through fast and met the ball well to score a good goal”.

"I took the corners today because Xavi wasn't there”.

"The fact is that I'm taking all the chances I get and I have to thank the rest of the players for the passes I'm getting. I need to take defenders on more, but I'm relaxed and I know that I have to work on that”.

Chygrynskiy

"Those were three important points, because we were all a bit down after the result in Kazan”.

"I'm learning Spanish as quickly as I can, because it's very important to understand my teammates. That's why I'm doing an hour of class every day. I'm looking to be able to speak the language in a couple of months, then start learning Catalan”.

Valdés

"The wind, the cold and the other team made it atough game”

"It's only normal that the boss rotates the squad, we had a tough game in Russia”.