Guardiola unhappy with a point
February 14, 2011 - 0:0
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was not satisfied with his side's 1-1 draw against Sporting Gijon.
The draw ended Barca's record-breaking 16 match run in La Liga and gives Real Madrid to cut the gap at the top to five points when they play Espanyol on Sunday.In fact, for a long time it looked like Gijon might pull off a shock upset - but David Villa scored with a superb chip late on to grab a point for his side.
Understandably, Guardiola was not very happy with the match outcome. In comments reported by the club's website, he said: ""I am not satisfied with a point. If you don't win it's not a good result. I'd have been satisfied if things hadn't gone as they did.
The Spaniard admitted it was not always a given that his side would win.
""Just because we're Barça doesn't mean we should always win, we can lose or draw if that's how it is. Insisting, insisting and insisting,"" he said.
Gijon were intent on defence for most of the game and Guardiola praised them for executing the plan well.
""I think Sporting played perfect, Manolo approached the game well. We didn't win but we did all we could to do so. It is not easy to attack against ten defenders.
The coach refused to give the midweek internationals as an excuse for his side's below par display.
""At Barça you have to go out and compete every three days and these players have shown they can do that millions of times.
""I know why this game was much harder for us, it's a question of movements and we were lacking depth, we're not unbeatable.
""I have no complaints. We go all around Spain showing people who we are and that is already enough.""
Finally, Guardiola gave his comments about Barcelona's winning run finally coming to an end.
""When a run like that comes to an end you value it even more, because we have won at grounds like this.
""We should have to play in more places like this where the team plays for their lives. It's terribly tough to have to compete with them.""
Barcelona next assignment is a tough Champions League encounter with English side Arsenal on Wednesday, February 16.
(Source: ESPN)