Deportivo draw pleases Guardiola

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was a happy man despite his team failing to defeat Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.

With the La Liga title wrapped up earlier this month, Guardiola chose to rest some of his stars during the visit of Deportivo La Coruna as the two teams played out a 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp.

Guardiola kept Lionel Messi and Xavi on the bench for the entire match, while striker David Villa did not even appear among the substitutes.

Barcelona had 82 percent of the possession during the clash and Guardiola was pleased with the performance from his second-stringers, even though they failed to find the breakthrough goal.

“I am delighted with the result; we just lacked a bit of balance,” Guardiola told Spanish newspaper AS.

“Even with regular starters, it would not have been easy playing against 10 players tucked back and trying to exploit the space on the counter.”

Barcelona travels to Malaga for the final game of the La Liga season on Sunday, with a marquee match-up against English champions Manchester United in the Champions League final on May 28 the main focus.