01.02.2011 14:33

Guardiola: “There is no point thinking about the treble in January”

Roger Bogunyà

Josep Guardiola has given a cautious press conference two days after Barça extended their lead on Real Madrid and one before being able to make it into the cup final. He is still concerned about the all-whites and Almeria.

First, he made it very clear that the league is anything but won, despite Madrid faltering in Pamplona to leave FC Barcelona seven points clear at the top of the table: “7 is better than 4 and 4 is better than 2, but there are still 51 points to play for. There’s a lot left”. And he hasn’t forgotten what happened in the past: “Two years ago, we were 12 ahead and later had to go to the Bernabéu and win 6-2 because they had closed the gap to four”.

Guardiola knows that they are still only half way through their league campaign. “Of the 51 points left, Madrid will win an infinity and we will have to win as many games as possible to maintain our lead. Nobody becomes champion in January … We will probably have to go to the Bernabéu to win the league again”. That game is on April 16, four days before the cup final.

Betis fresh on the mind

Guardiola doesn’t want to sit back on the 5-0 win over Almeria in the first leg. “We have to take the game seriously and win it. It would be wise to think where we’re going; we are all travelling because we have the chance to qualify for another final, which would be a huge success. We got a good result in the first leg but what happened in the away leg in Seville is fresh on our minds.” In that game, of course, it was just a matter of minutes before Betis had already pulled back two goals.

“We will attack, because if we speculate they can beat us well. The best way to defend a 5-0 lead is by attacking”, he said.

“April and May are the time for studying options”

Asked for his opinions about possibly winning another treble, the manager reminded listeners that as it stands they have only played 21 league games, are only in the semi finals of the Copa del Rey and the second round of the Champions League. “There is no point thinking about the treble in January. April and May are the time for studying options.” As he added, “the treble has only been done once in 110 years of history”.

However, this does not mean to say that Guardiola doesn’t believe his team is quite capable of achieving such a feat, although he knows anything can happen in football. For the time being, “the aim is the same as it was the first half of the season: to compete well”.