Barcelona boss expecting difficult encounter
Barcelona manger Pep Guardiola has revealed that he is expecting a difficult test of his side’s La Liga aspirations when they line up against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.
The reigning champions will head to San Mames in the Basque region looking to pick up a win with league leaders Real Madrid one point ahead of them in the Primera Division standings.
However, if they are to pick up the three points, Barcelona will have to do so without the phenomenal talents of their leader Lionel Messi. The Argentina attacker suffered an ankle injury in the win against Atletico Madrid last weekend and has been ruled
out for at least the next two games.
Regardless of not being able to call on the FIFA World Player of the Year, Guardiola knows that his men are in for a tough encounter in Bilbao.
He told reporters on Friday that: “I expect an intense match. They played direct football, and in that sense they are superior and want to take the match to their opponents. If we dominate with our passing game then we can beat them. We are in a good mood.
I am not unhappy with how we are playing at the moment. This league will be well matched, and everybody can beat everybody else, with each game difficult to win.”
Shortened pre-season not an issue
Guardiola added that, if his players do not pick up the three points, their failure could not be attributed to the shortened pre-season program.
Many of Barcelona’s players are Spain internationals and, as they went on to play in the final and become world champions, had to play well into July. As a result, their pre-season programme was delayed and thus shortened to allow them to recover from their
exertions, but Guardiola refuses to use that as an excuse for any adverse results on the pitch.
He said that: “The season after the World Cup is usually different from others. The preparation is not what we have wanted, but if we do not win at San Mames, it will not be because of pre-season.”
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