Barca taking nothing for granted

Barcelona will not take a 5-0 aggregate lead in their Copa del Rey quarter-final against Real Betis for granted, says coach Pep Guardiola.

The reigning La Liga champions demolished Betis at the Camp Nou last week, but Guardiola insists his side will be fully focused for the return leg at the Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera on Wednesday.

“The most important thing is to get through to the semi-final. We are going to play the second game looking for a good result, but we have to play,” Guardiola said.

“Betis are a strong team at home, and we have to be focused. If not, we could have a lot of problems.”

“We are travelling to a stadium where we know they are strong and despite the result from the first leg we are aware of the problems that they can create for us.”

“We have to be very cautious and pay attention. We want to have a good game to keep our winning run going and the best way of doing this is by going for the victory.”

“We aren’t going out to defend the result from the first leg, rather to get a good result in the second leg.”

Guardiola also revealed that he had long-term plans for youngster Thiago, but that he wanted him to continue to develop in the second team.

“Every player is different. Thiago is a very special player, who is unique in many respects,” Guardiola said.

“We know about his talent and personality and we know that he is a player who is doing very well.”

“Next year he will be with us. Against Ceuta he did well and was decisive and against Levante there wasn’t so much balance because he was playing with Andres.”