In the post-match press conference after the solitary goal win against Almeria last night, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, acknowledged that he was surprised by his counterpart Hugo Sanchez’s approach of individual man-marking of Xavi and Iniesta but believes his team can overcome these tactics.
“We tried to play Messi through the middle but could not provide the passes” adding, “If teams do that to us, we will find a solution. I know how that can be done.”
Guardiola admitted it was difficult for his team to play their usual game as Xavi and Iniesta had to leave midfield (play wide) to create more spaces, saying “We created very little danger which demonstrate that everything has a price”, adding “It is necessary to win against Almeria or any team (for that matter). They all prepare themselves well and they all have very good coaches.”
The coach was satisfied with Iniesta’s recovery to play the full 90 minutes and Marquez’s involvement in the match after returning from an injury that required surgery. But most of all he was delighted with Pedro. “He is still young and has a lot of room for improvement”, asserted Guardiola. “He is gradually given playing time and can only keep improving. Pedro helps us a lot as he has a sense for goal and (tonight) has scored a great goal.”
Talking about the tactical approach of the Almeria’s coach, Guardiola insisted he is not worried about other teams emulating the approach, “We merely lacked the ability to make inside passes. It does not worry me. When they defend against players individually
Andrés Iniesta 
“I feel sorry for Ortiz because he came to play and practically did nothing at all but follow me around. They put two players on me and Xavi, but we have other options”. “It was a strange game. We were not good in front ogf goal and perhaps if we'd managed another that would have changed things”. “I felt good. I didn't know if I was going to play the whole 90 minutes, but I'm happy to have been able to”. “We've won six from six and that's important”.
Pedro Rodríguez “Almeria made it tough for us, but I'm happy about the goal and the win, though I think I wasn't too good with my passing. I was a bit careless, but when you play more your confidence grows. I always try and bring something to the team”.
Víctor Valdes “The other team are playing as well, it's not all down to us. Almeria played an intelligent game, marking our midfield and looking to hit us on the break. I don't think we were tired – on the whole we played well in a very hard game. The changes freshened things up a bit. I'm very pleased for and proud of Pedro who is a guy I really like a lot. He's very self effacing and he deserves this type of reward”. Sergio Busquets 
“I wouldn't say it wa steh hardest game, but it was a bit strange. We took the points as best we could and I think we were the better team. It was difficult because we are not used to facing tactics like Almeria used. My ex-teammate Chico did a great job and I wish him all the best. We are on a good run and it's good to get a win just before the break, even without playing at our best. Let's hope Madrid don't win and we will be on our own at the top”.
Dani Alves
“We quickly saw that this was gpoing to be a tough game as they tried to stop our passing game, but we won and we continue our great run” “I'm a football fan, so I'll be watching Seville and Madrid. It'll be a hard game for Madrid”. “Like all Brazilians, I'm very happy about Rio being chosen as the venue for the Olympics ”.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic “I'm very happy to win a tough game and make it six out of six. We founfd ourselves up against some very difficult tactics, but we won without really playing well. It's very hard to play against 5 defenders and although I didn't score, somebody else did to give us the win Pedro¡s goal was a really good one”. “We have a decisive game against Denmark and if we can win we will be top of a difficult group”.
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