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Barcelona's Pep Guardiola delighted with performances of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan dos Santos during win over Real Sociedad
The Blaugrana boss has hailed his team for playing more eye-catching football, while reserving special praise for youngsters Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan Dos Santos
5 Feb 2012 07:16:00
By Livio Caferoglu
Pep Guardiola - Barcelona
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has voiced his pleasure at his side's free-flowing display during the 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad on Saturday.
The 40-year-old tried out an experimental line-up against the Basque club, which included the youthful talents of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan dos Santos, and was only too happy to speak proudly of his proteges, who he feels contributed remarkably well.
"We could have drawn today, but we have generated a lot of play and we have again become masters of the beautiful game, creating many chances. We have played another very good game," he told the press after the match.
"Cristian [Tello] is a winger, a bullet. He is very fast and does well in one-on-one situations. He's a very young kid that will eventually mature, but so far he has done very well.
"Congratulations must also go to Isaac [Cuenca] and [Jonathan] Dos Santos for the big game performance they put on, because it is not easy to perform as they did."
However, Guardiola was less enamoured with Barca's failure to turn their overriding possession into more goals, while speaking of his initial worry regarding Sergio Busquets' suspected knee injury.
"Tonight we could have scored four goals, as we had four good chances to score four goals."
"When Cesc had his hands on his head I thought he had broken something, but it appears to be only a deep cut, so we will have to see his condition by Wednesday," he concluded.
Barcelona remain seven points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid, in second place, and will now divert their attentions to Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Valencia.
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The 40-year-old tried out an experimental line-up against the Basque club, which included the youthful talents of Cristian Tello, Isaac Cuenca and Jonathan dos Santos, and was only too happy to speak proudly of his proteges, who he feels contributed remarkably well.
"We could have drawn today, but we have generated a lot of play and we have again become masters of the beautiful game, creating many chances. We have played another very good game," he told the press after the match.
"Cristian [Tello] is a winger, a bullet. He is very fast and does well in one-on-one situations. He's a very young kid that will eventually mature, but so far he has done very well.
"Congratulations must also go to Isaac [Cuenca] and [Jonathan] Dos Santos for the big game performance they put on, because it is not easy to perform as they did."
However, Guardiola was less enamoured with Barca's failure to turn their overriding possession into more goals, while speaking of his initial worry regarding Sergio Busquets' suspected knee injury.
"Tonight we could have scored four goals, as we had four good chances to score four goals."
"When Cesc had his hands on his head I thought he had broken something, but it appears to be only a deep cut, so we will have to see his condition by Wednesday," he concluded.
Barcelona remain seven points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid, in second place, and will now divert their attentions to Wednesday's Copa del Rey semi-final second leg against Valencia.
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 6-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
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