Pep ready for season opener
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola insists his side cannot have any excuses heading into Sunday's Supercopa first leg against Real Madrid as the two clubs do battle for the first silverware of the new Spanish season.
For various reasons Barca have only had limited time to all train together as a squad ahead of their trip to the Bernabeu, and they will be up against a Madrid side who have been flying in pre-season, winning all seven of their friendlies whilst scoring 27 goals in the process.
However, Guardiola, whose team returned from their American tour last weekend before then seeing 10 players depart for international duty, is not using the fact he has only had the last two days with the majority of his squad together as an excuse.
"We're playing a final and there can't be any possible excuses. If I'd wanted them to be fitter then I'd have called them back earlier. The rest was important," he said.
Sunday's clash renews one of the biggest rivalries in the world and a showdown that created plenty of headlines and controversy last season when Barca and Madrid met four times in 18 days in three different competitions.
The incidents during those Clasicos have been well-documented and come the end of the season it was Barca once again holding the upper hand against their keenest rivals in terms of trophies.
Guardiola's men not only retained their Primera Division title but also claimed the Champions League - beating Madrid in an ill-tempered semi-final encounter - while Jose Mourinho's side had to settle for a Copa del Rey final victory over Barca in the Portuguese's first season in charge.
In contrast to Barca, who so far have only brought in Alexis Sanchez, Madrid have been busy strengthening their squad this summer with the acquisitions of Fabio Coentrao, Nuri Sahin, Hamit Altintop, Jose Maria Callejon and Raphael Varane.
Guardiola said of the capital club: "Real Madrid have had an impeccable pre-season in terms of results. In terms of play, from what I've seen they've continued in as good a vein as last season.
"They won the Copa del Rey, got to the semi-finals of the Champions League, were second in the league. We will see how we are tomorrow, but you already know the opinion I have of these (Barca) players. We will compete well and see if we can lift the title.
"Since I've been a player and afterwards as a coach Madrid have always been strong, powerful, very good in every sense. We've seen the possible changes that they could have with the new players, we've tried to know our opponents as well as possible in recent days."
Guardiola, who has taken his whole squad to the capital for the match but has several fitness doubts, believes tomorrow's first-leg clash could be crucial towards the eventual destination of Supercopa.
"I have the feeling that if we lost 3-1 we will not be able to overcome a team like Madrid. We're playing for a big part of the title on Sunday," he said.
Mourinho was handed a five-match European ban following the fiery Champions League semi-final first leg against Barca at the Bernabeu in April, when the Portuguese was sent to the stands during the game and made what UEFA termed "an inappropriate statement" in the post-match press conference.
One of those matches was suspended while he served the first in the return leg against Barca, and then on appeal UEFA last month modified the ban so that the fourth match, as well as the fifth, is now suspended.
Mourinho commented on that this evening when asked about Madrid's Champions League chances this season, saying: "I won't speak about the Champions League until I complete my ban.
"The fact that UEFA reduced my punishment has a tremendous significance for me. They couldn't reduce it more because that would have left a bit of a strange situation. For me it was a great victory."
Regarding the game, the former Inter Milan and Chelsea boss said: "It's the most important tournament of the summer and the least important of the season.
"I've told the players that we've not prepared for the Supercopa, but for the whole season.
"For me it's an isolated competition, that doesn't have much to do with what is going to happen later on.
"At Inter we lost the Supercoppa and then won the treble.
"It's the most important of the friendly tournaments, but less important than the league, cup or Champions League."


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