On the eve of the upcoming friendly match between Manchester City and Barcelona at 7:00 a.m. Beijing time on July 31, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola attended a press conference and gave his views on a number of topics.
First, talking about his feelings about playing Barcelona, Guardiola said, "For me, playing against Barcelona is always special. It's a club that has had a major impact on me in my life, and it's always an honor for me to play against them, regardless of whether tomorrow's game is a friendly or an official match." This shows the depth of his feelings for Barcelona and the respect he has for the game.
Speaking about Barcelona striker Levan, Guardiola spoke highly of him, "Lewandowski is a great player, I have coached him and I know very well what he is capable of on the pitch. The fact that he scored four goals in ten minutes in one game is proof of his strength."
On Frick coaching Barca, Guardiola expressed his blessing: "Frick? I hope he is the best choice for Barcelona. He is an extraordinary man, his team is a very good team, they brought out a very strong Bayern. I met him one day before and I expressed my best wishes to him and I wish him all the best. At Barcelona you need to be patient and you need to win matches, Barcelona's potential never ends."
When asked if he wanted to bring in players from Barcelona, Guardiola confessed, "The players are very good, but Laporta told me they are not thinking of selling those players." This reflects his recognition of the strength of Barcelona's players, but also realizes the difficulty of bringing them in.
On what Laporta still needs to succeed, Guardiola said he doesn't know the specifics: "I wasn't there, I don't know. Believe me, if I knew, I would call Laporta and tell him. I don't really know the situation at Barcelona, I've been away for a long time."
Finally, Guardiola recognized Yamal's stunning performance and encouraged him to stay calm: "Lamine? If Xavi gave him his debut, it must have been for a reason. Rodri always tells me how good Yamal is, that he's an extraordinary player. But I'm sure he'll go through his ups and downs and he should stay calm because he'll have many, many more games after that. La Masia never disappoints, this generation I don't know what kind of support their parents give them, they are like airplanes showing what they can do in the wide open sky. The foundation of Kubasi, Pedri, Balde, Lamine ...... Barcelona has always been their youth players and then some great signings from other teams to improve."
