Iniesta: “We'll keep fighting for the title until the end”

The midfielder said that “there is still a lot of Liga left” and that the team is on a “good trajectory” 

The Barça players dedicate tonight’s win to Abidal, who underwent liver transplant surgery today 

Muniesa: “It’s an honour to finish the game with 10 players from the youth system. I hope we can some day finish a game with 11”

Barça closed the gap with Real Madrid, who still have a game in hand, to one point tonight after the Catalans beat Getafe 4-0 at the Camp Nou. “Madrid are the leaders, they have the advantage. But there’s still quite a bit of Liga to play. What we have to do is win the games we have left,” said Andrés Iniesta. The midfielder said that his teammates must have their “batteries charged” in order to take advantage of any slip up that Madrid might have from here until the end of the season. Despite the one-point difference, the Azulgranas aren’t giving up on the title: “things have changed and we’re still fighting for the title, and we’ll keep fighting for it until the end.”

Goal express

Iniesta was the man that supplied Messi with the assist in Barça’s second goal. “The goal was scored after a very fast one-touch play. When they close themselves off we have to play as quickly as possible. It worked out well,” mused Iniesta, who also said that the team “is on a good trajectory” and that “we took advantage of our chances.”

Barça’s next match will be away to Levante. The Azulgranas place a lot of value on this Saturday’s match seeing that the Valencia-based team are currently holing a Champions League spot in the table. 

Victory dedicated to Abidal 

Most of Barça’s players dedicated tonight’s victory to Abidal, who underwent liver transplant surgery today. Iniesta said: “I’m happy to dedicate this win to Abi. This is for you!” Another hot topic among the footballers after the match was the fact that Barça ended the game with 10 home-grown players on the pitch. 

Barça’s footballers will be keeping a close eye on tomorrow’s match between Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid. “This is a match worth watching because it’s a derby, and derbies are always intense. I’ll be watching it, but Madrid is capable of winning and Atlético is playing at home. Without a doubt, it will be an exciting game,” said Iniesta.

Here are the statements made by the FC Barcelona players after the match:

Montoya: 

“It’s very easy to play with this team because they are the best. We have to win all of our matches and hope that Madrid drop points. We’re working really well and we’re on the best form we’ve been on all season. We have to pressure our rival [Madrid].

“Being one point away from Madrid after being 10 away is beautiful and we have to continue the trend. We have to keep on working.”

Valdés: 

“The boss always tells us what we need to hear. We’re in the final stretch of the Liga and we have to grit our teeth, it’s almost over. We’re one point away, we’ll see what Madrid does tomorrow. The work that needed to get done today, is finished.

“Fantastic match from the team and now we’re only a point behind the leaders. I have to highlight the fact that we finished the match with 10 players form the youth system on the pitch.”

Adriano:

“We have to keep on running, the best part of the season is ahead of us. This was a good game, we were able to attack and keep our patience. We earned a good result. We believe we can win the title. We’ll keep on fighting until the end because there are still a lot of points still in play. We have to hold on to this thought and work really hard.

“Levante have always been a difficult team. It’s an important match. We cannot allow ourselves to repeat the errors we’ve committed in the past.”

Pedro:

“The fans were spectacular, I don’t have words. Great work from the team and great victory. This is for our friend Abidal.”

Cuenca: 

“This victory is for you, Abi. Be strong, we eagerly await your return!”

Muniesa: 

“It’s an honour to finish the match with 10 players from the reserve side. I hope we can someday finish a game with 11.”

Alves:

“Great work from the team. The show must go on.”

Guardiola: “We dedicate this victory to Abidal"

The manager dedicated the victory to Éric Abidal, who underwent liver transplant surgery this Tuesday

“I’m very pleased with today’s performance because it’s difficult to attack a team that puts nine men behind the ball,” said the manager

Josep Guardiola wanted to encourage Éric Abidal, who underwent liver transplant surgery today, by dedicating Barça’s victory over Getafe to the Frenchman. “We’re very pleased to be able to dedicate this victory to Abidal and his cousin Gerard. It’s a special day because we knew that he was in surgery.”

On the match, the manager is pleased with the performance of his players against a team that came to the Camp Nou to defend the initial scoreline: “we’re very pleased because it’s never easy [to play against] such a defensive team. We found our patience, and we scored fairly early, we created goal scoring chances... we controlled the match.” He added that “it’s very difficult to attack a team that defends with nine players.”

Time to think about Levante 

The manager knows that he can’t influence tomorrow’s match between Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid. However, he said “we’re on a good streak and we have to focus on our own work. We have to start thinking about one of the most difficult matches we have left away from home like the one against Levante and Rayo. These two games will mark our course [in the Liga].”

Praise for Puyol 

Carles Puyol turns 34 this Friday. Guardiola said that “beyond his physical qualities he can play football. He lives for it and he takes care of himself. He lives each training session as if it were his last and he performs like it’s his first. I’m very pleased with him and even more so after last year. It’s encouraging because it helps me think we can prolong his career and that’s good for him and for Barça.”

Just as he did after the match against Zaragoza, Guardiola highlighted Pedro’s performance. “We need his goals until the end of the season. It’s great that he’s recovering his confidence and I’m happy that the fans cheer him on.”

Lastly, the manager played down the fact that Barça finished the match with 10 La Masia graduates. “The foundation of the Club is made up of players from La Masia, but in the end everyone is part of this team.”

Guardiola equals Rijkaard with 112 victories in La Liga

Barça’s victory this Tuesday over Getafe saw Gaurdiola equal Rijkaard’s record of 112 victories in La Liga

Josep Guardiola continues to break records as FC Barcelona’s manager. After today’s victory over Getafe, he’s now the manager with the second most amount of wins in La Liga in the history of FC Barcelona. Guardiola is level with Frank Rijkaard in second place, both with 112 victories. The Catalan manager reached this mark after leading his team in 146 league matches, with a winning rate of 76.8%, the highest of any Barça coach in the history of the Club. Rijkaard’s win rate in La Liga is 56.9%.

Only 10 defeats 

If Guardiola’s number of wins is impressive, then the amount of games he’s lost is even more astounding. Of his 146 matches at the Barça helm, he’s only lost 10 games and drawn 24 times. His team have scored 392 goals and conceded 103. In terms of points, Guardiola’s Barça have earned 354 points over these past four seasons.

Only Johan Cruyff has led FC Barcelona to more victories than Guardiola. The Dutchman won 183 matches on the Barça bench from 306 games.

FCB-GETAFE (4-0)

FC Barcelona - Getafe: Barça get ten out of ten (4-0)

Goals from Alexis (2), Messi and Pedro have won Barça’s tenth game in a row and put them just one point behind Madrid, who play on Wednesday night

FC Barcelona have passed Tuesday night’s test with flying colours. They defeated Getafe playing exquisite football and are now just one point behind leaders Real Madrid, who have a high pressure derby at the Vicente Calderón against Atlético Madrid to deal with on Wednesday night. Guardiola’s side played a perfect game from start to finish, with Alexis and Messi getting a goal each in the first half and the Chilean heading home a second after the break, and Pedro getting his second goal in two games, also from a header, to make it 4-0.

That makes for ten wins in a row for Barça, who now turn their minds to Saturday’s game against this season’s surprise package Levante, although before that, they will have a keen eye on events at the Madrid derby on Wednesday night.

Alexis opens the scoring

Guardiola knew how important this game was, and decided not to rest any of his biggest names, while also opting for the ambitious tactic of fielding just three defenders and choosing as many as six attack-minded players in Xavi, Iniesta, Cuenca, Pedro, Alexis and Messi. The game started out as a battle to win the midfield, where Luis García also deployed the strongest forces he has in the hope of containing the Catalans as much as possible.

But his plans were in vain, with Barça absolutely dominating the possession from the outset, and it didn’t take the home side long to break the deadlock through Alexis, who lost his marker with blistering skill before shooting home from the edge of the area. The Camp Nou faithful, who remembered Abidal’s name in the 22nd minute of both halves, celebrated the goal in style.

Iniesta and Messi form lethal connection

Getafe only managed to break into the Barça half with any serious intent on three consecutive occasions just after the half hour. With Miku as their only out and out forward, the rest of the team did all they could to contain Barça’s suffocating possession football, and which led to crosses time and again from Pedro and Cuenca, on the left and right respectively, while Xavi, Iniesta, Alexis and Messi masterfully marshalled the midfield. All those players had chances to get Barcelona’s second, but eventually it was the Argentinian who found the net following a magnificent one-two with Iniesta. Barça went in at the break 2-0 up, and looked in total command of the game.

Third and fourth from headers

After the restart, the Camp Nou suffered a torrential downpour, which had much to do with the drop in intensity until the final quarter of an hour when FC Barcelona put their feet back on the gas to ensure three valuable points. And they got them in uncharacteristic fashion, both coming from headers. The first was converted by Alexis with a powerful dive to complete a majestic move started by a pinpoint cross from Cuenca on the right. The second was the work of Pedro, who headed home a Messi free kick with his back to the goal. The two strikes brought an end to the storm, and sparked off yet another night of celebrations in the Catalan capital.