Guardiola sticking with Barca

A humble Pep Guardiola paid tribute to Manchester United and committed himself to Barcelona following Saturday’s emphatic Champions League win.

Guardiola was on the touchline to witness one of the all-time great performances as Barca ran riot at Wembley, trouncing United 3-1 to lock up their third Champions League title in six years.

The 40-year-old, who was rumoured to be considering departing the Camp Nou should Barca win Saturday’s final, flatly denied those reports in his post-match remarks and said he was committed to seeing out his contract with the Catalan giants.

‘I will say it again, I have another year on my contract and I intend to work it out,” Guardiola told TVE.

”I feel privileged to have these players. Everyone has worked towards this. We are very happy. But I have to look inside of me. I am happy to be here as coach of these guys, but it is not an easy job.”

“We must congratulate Manchester United for the great match they have played. We are pleased because we know how hard it is to win the Champions League.”

“We had some time to prepare this encounter and I thought we played excellently tonight.”

“We went 1-0 up but we knew that with all of United’s history and stature in the game they would come back at us. In the end, though, we managed to control the match and we won very well.”

Lionel Messi, who has already attracted plaudits as the greatest player in the modern game, was hailed by his manager as the best ever after a scintillating goal in the 54th minute put Barca ahead for good.

“Lionel is the best player I have seen and probably the best I will ever see,” Guardiola said.

“He made the difference. Messi is unique, a one-off. I just hope he doesn’t get fed up. ”

“When he doesn’t play well it is because something is wrong with his environment. Let’s hope he can continue playing well.”

The Barcelona coach was less sure if his side could be labelled the greatest of all time however, deferring to greats teams of the past led by the likes of Alfredo Di Stefano and Johan Cruyff.

‘I don’t know (if Barcelona are the best ever),” Guardiola said. “It is impossible to say.”

“I didn’t see the Real Madrid of Di Stefano and the Ajax of Cruyff. We try to play as well as possible.”

“I hope in the next 10 or 15 years the people will remember them and have enjoyed them.”