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Barcelona Will Treat The Copa del Rey Seriously - Pep Guardiola
The Blaugrana will be using some of their youth players against Cultural, but this is not a sign of indifference towards the competition...
27-Oct-2009 8:51:26 PM
Pep Guardiola has insisted that Barcelona are taking the Copa del Rey seriously, despite the fact he has chosen to rest six of his key players for the clash against Cultural Leonesa.
Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have all been dropped from the squad, while Jonathan Dos Santos, Jonathan Soriano, Gai Assulin, Andreu Fontas and Ivan Benitez take their places.
"We don't lie down for a match here - be it more or less important - and even less so for a competition," Guardiola announced to Marca.
The coach explained that since they were "defending champions", it was necessary "to defend the title properly and do things as God wishes".
Nor is Guardiola taking Cultural for granted. The minnows may be lacking the luminaries of Barcelona, but the coach has seen them in action and warned his players that they must not be careless.
"I have seen two of their games and they have many signs of a Segunda B side. For instance, their strategy works well.
"[Remember] what happened last season against Benidorm, after about 80 minutes it was 0-0 at home and they had a great chance to score."
Anthony Wright, Goal.com
Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic have all been dropped from the squad, while Jonathan Dos Santos, Jonathan Soriano, Gai Assulin, Andreu Fontas and Ivan Benitez take their places.
"We don't lie down for a match here - be it more or less important - and even less so for a competition," Guardiola announced to Marca.
The coach explained that since they were "defending champions", it was necessary "to defend the title properly and do things as God wishes".
Nor is Guardiola taking Cultural for granted. The minnows may be lacking the luminaries of Barcelona, but the coach has seen them in action and warned his players that they must not be careless.
"I have seen two of their games and they have many signs of a Segunda B side. For instance, their strategy works well.
"[Remember] what happened last season against Benidorm, after about 80 minutes it was 0-0 at home and they had a great chance to score."
Anthony Wright, Goal.com
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