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October 2009 - Posts
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Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was content with the workmanlike performance against Cultural Leonesa which earned them a 2-0 win to take back to the Nou Camp for the return leg of the cup clash.
While stating firmly that the team was going for the win, Guardiola decided to bring in several youngsters and It was Pedro who got both goals. It was a match in which Barca always dominated and past the ball with authority around the pitch.
"We got a good result thinking of the return match but in football there can be a lot of surprises and so we must be cautious. There will still be 90 minutes and we have to prepare well for it. Last season it happened to us against Benidorm were it was difficult for us to get through" said Guardiola, who was surprised at the way Real Madrid lost against Alcorcon of the Spanish third tier.
"What shocked me was how Alcorcon played, they did fantastically well."
Guardiola also picked out the youth players for praise: "We didn't have full-backs but Jeffren did very well playing this role. He is versatile and very disciplined, I told him about the possibility and he said it would not be a problem. Pedro always has an eye for a goal, the pitch was very fast and it was not easy for the forwards but he did well as did Bojan who I think needs more minutes."
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Barcelona take on lower league side Cultural Leonesa as they look to defend their Copa del Rey title they won last spring against Athletic Bilbao and coach Pep Guardiola says like last season they will look to win every tournament they enter.
The humiliating defeat of Real Madrid on Tuesday night against a side from the third tier of Spanish football will come as a warning not to take the game against Leonesa too lightly. Madrid were torn apart despite fielding a side largely made of first-teamers including Raul and Benzema and were especially weak in defence with new signing Raul Albiol from Valencia woeful.
Despite Messi, Pique, Iniesta, Xavi, Puyol and Ibrahimovic all being rested for the trip, Guardiola made it clear that they were going for the victory.
"I want to make sure that no one has any doubts that we aim to go through to the next round. We demand the most out of all of us and here nobody will throw anything away. We will play with some youth players but will take the game seriously. It was the same last year that people said we were not interested in the competition but it was not true. In the Segunda B the teams work hard on the strategy of the game and they have some good players so it will be a difficult side to play against," said Guardiola.
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Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola is unconcerned about the criticism of his team and the exaggerated talk that it could be the end of a cycle even though the team remains top of the table.
A draw last weekend and defeat in the Champions League against Rubin Kazan has led to claims of crisis if only because of the high standards that Barca have set themselves. However this weekend the team will be keen to get back to winning ways against Zaragoza.
"The situation exists that when we win we are excellent and we receive considerable praise and then when we lose it is the opposite. I'm not going to lose faith in the team because I saw how they competed," said Guardiola, "the team is fine and we just have to concentrate on how we play the games and what we can do better in order to win.
"I'm not going to waste time thinking of whether other opinions have any reason, maybe they have. I have experience here especially that when you lose you have to put up with it and battle through."
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The discussion and debate over the future of Barça club captain Carles Puyol has finally come to an end as he has signed a new contract which will keep him at the club until 2013.
The 31-year-old has been the driving force of the team from defence but surprisingly the board has been slow in offering him a deal but a statement issued on Friday said that a contract has been agreed and all the paperwork will be concluded in the coming days.
"It was not difficult to arrive at an agreement, we told him that if the problem was over a year longer then that was not a difficulty. We all know very well what Puyol offers the team in terms of his behaviour, performance and personality as captain," said sports director Txiki Begiristain.
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After a draw against Valencia in the league and defeat in the Champions League against Rubin Kazan critics have been quick to look at what has gone wrong with the team, but Andres Iniesta believes there has been an over-reaction.
"We are not going to go crazy, the season has been long and we have had good spells and we will return to having them. The team has been running up and down the pitch and giving a 100 per cent, and there is no doubt that our results will improve," said Iniesta.
"It is too soon to talk of crisis and that there is an end to a cycle. To draw away at Valencia is not terrible although it was to lose at home to Kazan but it is always possible in football. We go out each game looking to play our best and win but it is not always possible, last season was something exceptional but we started again this campaign from zero. If we win a title then no one will say anything at the end of the year. The squad is not too big or too small."
Meanwhile this week the Masia, the youth accommodation set-up by ex-president Josep Nunez, had its 30th anniversary. Iniesta followed the likes of Guardiola and Xavi by passing through the Masia on his way to breaking into the first team.
"The Masia gave me a lot and all the work and effort I put in at that time has been rewarded with me playing in the first team," he said.
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Defender Rafael Marquez started his first game of the season against Rubin Kazan after recovering from an injury he picked up during the pre-season tour of America, and he accepts he quickly needs to find his form.
"It was difficult for me and I noticed it especially against a team of the quality of Rubin. I need to improve quickly to be at the level of my team-mates who have played more games than me. It is a question of minutes and little by little I will get back to my best," said the Mexican.
Team-mate Thierry Henry is likely to play some part in this weekend's match against Zaragoza after getting injured on international duty with France. He was originally given ten days to recover but is likely to start on the bench this Sunday.
Despite rumours of a return to the Premiership, Henry remains an important figure in the dressing room for coach Pep Guardiola even though he has failed to score since the famous 6-2 win over Real Madrid back in May.
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Defeat against Rubin Kazan means that Barca now face an important match against the Russian champions in their next Champions League clash but other results mean they are still leaders of Group F.
Rubin proved their doubters wrong as they showed plenty of quality against Barca who by their own standards where far from their best. Admittedly only playing on the break, they scored two fine goals and for the rest of the match they remained solid while the azulgrana could only find a way to goal through a fine strike from Ibrahimovic, the best of Barca's attacking line.
Last week Leo Messi received a lot of criticism in Argentina for his below par performances for the Albiceleste and he certainly now does not seem the usually carefree player of previous seasons. It is the first time that Messi has had a run of bad form and hopefully he will be able to bounce back. It is natural for any player to have dips in form but such has been the level of his performances that fans have started to expect too much.
Barca dominated possession against Rubin but could not find a breakthrough and perhaps this was the type of game where they miss the directness of Samuel Eto'o. While the Cameroon was perhaps not as technically strong as Ibrahimovic he would go straight for goal and that is something that the team is lacking at the moment.
Afterwards Pep Guardiola took the game in his stride: "we had a good game but the result is always the most important. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth because we gave away a key passage to the next round, now we will have to win away."
More bad news for Barca is that Dani Alves will be out for three weeks with a hamstring strain.
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Barcelona is the perfect setting to get the best out of Zlatan Ibrahimovic according to Brazilian defender Maxwell who moved with him to Catalunya in the summer from Inter Milan.
There were question marks at the start of the season about how well Ibrahimovic would fit into Guardiola's side but his quality has been evident from the start and and he has regularly found the back of the net.
"Ibrahimovic came to Barca at the best time, as with their style of play, the club can allow him to do a lot more. I am confident that it will be a good season for him," said Maxwell.
Maxwell was also content about his own start: "Abidal is doing very well at the moment and the important thing for me is to always be ready for when an opportunity arises for me.
"I am enjoying myself at Barca, Guardiola has a good view of football, he knows how to prepare the team well and communicate what he wants. The players also have incredible technique, especially Messi and Xavi, who decide games on their own. The mood in the team is very good but it will be a difficult league to win and I think it will not be just a two horse race between Real Madrid and us."
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