Guardiola, Berdyev trade praise

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was full of praise for Russian champions Rubin Kazan after condemning them to a 2-0 loss at the Camp Nou.

Barca hosted Rubin the final round of the Champions League group stages on Tuesday, having already clinched the top spot in Group D.

Guardiola fielded an inexperienced line-up without the likes of Andreas Iniesta, Dani Alves, David Villa and Xavi, but their replacements – many drawn from Barca’s second team, Barcelona B – performed admirably nonetheless.

While Guardiola was thrilled with the ‘spirit’ in which his younger players performed, he also reserved some kind words for Rubin, who will now move to the Europa League after failing to advance in the top-tier competition.

“Luckily we had already qualified because if not you can’t imagine the difficulties we’d have had against these opponents,” Guardiola said.

“Teams from northern Europe are always a step ahead at this stage of the season.”

“For that reason it’s been such a difficult group and it’s why I’m happy to emerge unbeaten from the group stage for the first time in three years.”

“From here on in there are no easy games; every team is powerful.”

“Winning against a defensive side like Rubin with players who don’t get many opportunities makes this result doubly valuable.”

“When your opponents play in a fashion where there are five or six players holding at the back, waiting to counterattack, it’s always very difficult to break down and Rubin did their job well.”

“What my players achieved deserves a lot of credit, especially for the spirit with which they performed.”

Rubin coach Kurban Berdyev returned the plaudits to his Spanish opponents, declaring he had seen the future of Barcelona in the young players who taught his side a lesson on Tuesday.

“We fielded our best side but still found it very hard against Barcelona’s second team,” Berdyev said.

“It’s difficult to play Barcelona, whoever they field. Look how many young players they had tonight but they all understand football as well as first-team players.”

“Tonight we played the Barca the whole world will know in a few years.”

“Barca’s philosophy is all about maximum possession, and it is difficult to be creative without the ball.”

“Nevertheless tonight we made far fewer mistakes than in previous matches so we can still reflect on some positive aspects of the game.”

“Our main problem is a lack of danger up front, because we don’t have strikers of a high enough standard. We will look for some in the winter.”