Josep Guardiola pleaded with the Camp Nou faithful to not give Pepe a hostile reception in their Copa del Rey quarter-final decider.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 fans, and the the Portuguese centre-back is expected to be on the receiving end of a hostile reception, similar to the one Luis Figo once faced at the Camp Nou.
Despite the the Portuguese international's ill intentions, Guardiola has asked the fans to look the other way in the crunch Copa del Rey fixture.
Barcelona won 1-2 in the first leg of the two-legged quarter-final, and now they welcome Real Madrid to Camp Nou for the return fixture.
Guardiola pleaded with the Cules to be on their best behaviour and asked them to not to hold grudges against the Real Madrid centre-back.
"Let us leave Pepe alone," Guardiola told news reporters. "If his coach wants him to play, then let him play and I hope this will be the best possible situation for everyone.
The 41-year-old manager does not want a repeat of hostilities that were on show when Luis Figo returned to the Camp Nou after joining the rival club, Real Madrid. Guardiola has warned that the fans' behaviour brought shame to the club
and he does not want that to happen again.
"I hope that what happened with [Luis] Figo will not be repeated because the club's fans regret what happened.
"If it happens again, it means we have not learned anything and that we are not the club we have to be. It would hurt more than to be eliminated." He said.
Guardiola is wary of the threat Jose Mourinho’s men possess and asked his players not to think ahead of time. He stated that they should not target anything but a victory to ease their progress to the semi-finals.
"I do not want anyone to think that we have won because the match will be very close and the two teams will have a chance to go through until the last minute."
Question marks remain over Pepe’s inclusion in Real Madrid’s squad for the match. The former http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/FC-Porto-c39186 player did not feature in Los Blancos’ 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao over the weekend, and is awaiting the decision of Spanish Football
Federation (RFEF) for inclusion into the match-day squad.
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