“It wasn’t easy to play such a serious game”

Vanessa Forns

Guardiola was well aware of the value of Saturday night’s win over Zaragoza, particularly given the hectic schedule his team have been enduring, insisting: “it wasn’t easy to play such a serious game so soon after Wednesday’s Champions League game”.

The win at La Romareda, the team’s fourth away victory on the run and a record start to the season, pleased the boss and especially after the efforts of Wednesday night when the team beat Copenhagen in the Champions League, leaving precious little time to prepare for the trip to Zaragoza.

Squad in good shape

“Overall, we had control of the game and created plenty of chances. It wasn’t easy to play such a serious game so soon after Wednesday’s Champions League game, but the squad is looking in good shape and if we can stay like this, we’ll get to where we have to in even better condition”.

Three man defence
Guardiola also expressed his satisfaction with his three man defence: “the truth is that it’s never easy to play when you aren’t really used to a new tactic, but the truth is that the players knew how to respond and I’m very happy with how they played”.

“Messi is a goal scorer”
Once again Messi was the star of the show and Guardiola insisted: “he is basically a goal scorer. It’s not something new, he has always been. He’s not a typical number 9, but he’s always after goals – that’s why he’s scored so many in so few years. He was comfortable tonight and we created plenty of chances, coming through the middle and down the flanks”.