The 41-year-old tactician was in awe of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcelo-c23554 Bielsa’s charges and voiced his admiration for their tireless approach to the game.
Atletico Madrid trounced a nervy Athletic Bilbao in Bucharest, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Romania-c2990 to earn UEFA Europa League honours. On the back of the disheartening defeat, the Basque entity takes on the challenge of Barcelona in the final of 2011/12 season’s Copa del Rey.
While Los Leones were undone by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296.
Despite their poor performance over in the final couple of weeks of their La Liga campaign, the San Mames-based outfit have managed to impress a lot of spectators, among which the name of Pep Guardiola stands apart.
Reflecting on the cup final ahead, Guardiola was full of praise for the Athletic Bilbao. The retired Spanish midfielder had kind words for their cup rivals as he voiced his admiration for their resilient attitude.
He stated that he expects Bilbao to attack them and believes they will not be happy at being pegged back into their own half as they prefer to surge forward rather than relax.
Continuing on the topic, Guardiola reckoned that the final will go down the wire and the team with most endurance will win on the night.
"Athletic are a team that always create chances; they don't get down," he argued. "This is a final we're going to have to endure right until the end.”
"Both teams will play to attack and I expect the best team to win. Their players have guts and they will show that in the game.”
Guardiola played down suggestions that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 manager stated that the players will be out for vengeance after losing in the Europa League final.
"When they cried as [Iker] Muniain and Toquero did in the [Europa League final], it was because the loss affected them.”
"With two weeks of rest, I believe we'll meet the rival that we saw in their games against Manchester United."
The Copa del Rey final is scheduled to start at 22 00 hours CET on Friday, 25 May 2012.
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