J.Guardiola: "I can't blame my players for anything"

"I am proud of my team and my players. I cannot blame them for anything," said Bayern Munich coach Josep Guardiola after losing 0-3 to Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final in the Catalan capital. J. Guardiola (Bayern coach): "We wanted to control the ball and play our football. We were really good in the first half and played well. But after the score became 0-1, we lost our motivation. It's a shame that we conceded the third goal because after 0-2, you can still recover, but with 0-3, it will be much harder. We need to congratulate the Barcelona team. They are a really good team, very solid both in attack and defense. (On L. Messi) I won't tell you what I think about Leo Messi, but all the Barcelona players are very good. The best way to control them is to have the ball ourselves, which is what we tried to do. But that third goal was avoidable. (On returning to Camp Nou) My feelings were good, but then I fully concentrated on these matches. (On Bayern) I am proud of my team and my players. We have been facing problems for three months, but despite that, we made it to this semi-final. I cannot blame my players." Manuel Neuer (Bayern goalkeeper): "It's difficult to stop a player like Messi. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose these one-on-one duels. In the second half, Barcelona players were better than us. When the situation was in our favor, we had to take our chances. (On the match in Munich) Everyone saw what we did at home against Porto (after losing 1-3 away, Bayern won 6-1 at home in the Champions League quarterfinals - Ed.), but Barcelona is a different team. You can never say never, but it will be very difficult at home this time."

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