Guardiola sees room for improvement
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has said that his players can improve on their convincing display against Panathinaikos on Tuesday.
The Catalans suffered a 2–0 defeat to La Liga newcomers Hercules on Saturday, but managed to revert to old form by defeating the Greek side 5–1 at the Camp Nou. Lionel Messi led the club's attack by netting two goals, with fellow strikers David Villa and
Pedro Rodriguez and defender Daniel Alves also getting on the scoresheet.
“Playing as well as we did today is really difficult," Guardiola told Barcelona's official website. "That’s the way to do it. We produced a fine performance and created a good impression."
Since he took charge of Barcelona in 2008, Guardiola has led his team to successive league titles and one Champions League trophy by playing spectator-friendly football based on keeping possession.
"I’m pleased to say that what we did today we have done many times before. Maybe people will say that we weren’t up against a top class team but Panathinaikos is the Greek champion and played with a ten-man defence."
Passing and movement key to Barca's game
Given their attacking prowess, Barcelona have grown accustomed to facing teams that anticipate counter-attacking opportunities while playing a compact defensive game.
And the Spanish side showed great resilience to fight back after Sidney Gouvou put the Greeks in front after an early break. The Catalans' superior movement and quick passing opened up the opposition's defence, as it has many times before.
“We haven’t reached our ceiling yet," said Guardiola, who insists there is room for improvement. "We still have a bit to go and we will try and up our game."
Barcelona travel to face Atletico Madrid on Sunday in what should be a tough test for the champions.
“The game in the Calderon is a good test. We’ll be playing against one of the best teams in Europe and in the world. We’ll try and keep on improving."
Tags: