Pep Guardiola picked up his 12th trophy with Barcelona since 2008 and he gave all the credit to his players.
|||Monaco – Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola intends to continue his relentless pursuit of silverware after collecting his 12th trophy in four years following the Spanish side's 2-0 win over Porto in the European Super Cup on Friday.
Despite only being in the job since 2008, Guardiola has already eclipsed Johan Cruyff's haul of 11 trophies during his tenure as manager from 1988-96 as Barcelona added the European trophy to the Spanish Super Cup they collected last week.
Guardiola, however, said there would be no sitting back and counting his honours and that he was amazed by the competitiveness of his players, who just craved more and more success.
Since becoming coach he has now won the Champions League twice, three La Liga titles, three Spanish Super Cups, the Copa del Rey, two European Super Cups and the Club World Cup.
But there was no end in sight to what this team could achieve, he said: “There are still many ways we can get better and improve.
“If we think we can't do that then we're wrong and we will come up against other people out there who will have motivation to do things better than us,” he told reporters.
He sharply rebuked a question about winning every trophy they were competing for this season, but said his team were a very special one, full of friends who had known each other a long time and went the extra mile when there were problems.
Barcelona won a spirited match with goals from Lionel Messi and substitute Cesc Fabregas against a Porto team that finished with nine men after two late red cards for Rolando and Fredy Guarin.
The victory was a satisfactory one for Guardiola, who also won 10 major titles as a Barca player between 1990 and 2001.
“I never tire of praising them... they are still as competitive as ever after the Spanish Super Cup and despite it being this early time of the season and the state of the pitch. They are always there for each other.
“We have a lot of young players and they still have this eagerness to win. That keeps impressing me.
“To average four titles a year is too much, it's unthinkable and it's been possible only because FC Barcelona have put together a generation of players which has made these achievements possible.
“I believe this team with these players can perform just as well as in previous seasons. I didn't expect to win the Spanish Super Cup and that we could also win this. Then Monday, we have to face up to Villarreal so that's a tough job.”
Asked if the Barcelona “family” was now complete since Fabregas's return from Arsenal, he said: “It's a special generation because these are not only huge players they are also friends.
“It is not easy to build a team but most are friends from a long time ago. That's a very good thing for us because when there are problems, friends can solve them quickly.
“Cesc is a very, very good player. He has everything it takes to play good football in midfield and arrive in the second position.
“His goal was a very good pass from Leo (Messi) and then a very good piece of control from Cesc, because he controlled the ball quickly and shot very well.
“We have tried to help him reach the best condition as soon as possible and he will help us try to make a very good season.”
Fabregas added: “I've not played with Messi for some time, but I played with him for five years when we were younger and so trust me... I know him. He sees special passes and sees special goals and he saw me and I took the chance.”
Porto came out of the defeat with plenty of credit and coach Vitor Pereira insisted his side should have had a penalty when they were 1-0 down.
“It was definite penalty,” he said. “Apart from that, and the result, I was very happy with our performance. Barcelona are simply the best team in the world and I think we gave them a very, very hard match.”
With the Spanish players strike now over, Barcelona will start their league campaign at home to Villarreal on Monday while Porto will look to extend their perfect start to the Portuguese season with an away game at Leiria on September 6. – Reuters
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/guardiola-praises-special-barcelona-1.1126202
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