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Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola Wary Ahead Of 'Intense Match' vs Bilbao

Angela Asante, September 24 2010,
Last year, Barcelona dropped two points away to Athletic Bilbao. This time, Pep Guardiola wants to get it right.
Barcelona's Pep Guardiola is wary of Athletic Bilbao's threat. The Blaugrana boss wants to keep pace with current La Liga leaders, Real Madrid.
Barcelona's Pep Guardiola is wary of Athletic Bilbao's threat. The Blaugrana boss wants to keep pace with current La Liga leaders, Real Madrid.
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There will be no Lionel Messi for yet another time as the Argentine superstar is nursing an ankle injury which he picked up against Atletico Madrid the other time. Besides the fact that the absence of the Barcelona play maker may make things harder for the Blaugrana as Gerard Pique stated earlier this week, Athletic Bilbao are also expected to strongly try and get in the way of their opponents on Saturday.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola explained best how the match could unfold as he looked ahead to La Liga’s 5th match-day. The manager shared his expectations as he stated:

“I expect an intense match. They [Athletic Bilbao] play direct football. In that sense, they are superior and they want to take the match to their opponents.

“But, if we dominate with our passing game, then we can beat them. We are in good mood too.”

Some football pundits may be reluctant to bet a Barcelona win at San Mames this weekend. The reason is that Lionel Messi’s exclusion has proven to have an impact on the Blaugrana’s performance. At least, that’s what the Catalans hard-fought 1-0 victory against a weakened Sporting Gijon side seemed to reveal in midweek.

Barca’s usual flawless game wasn’t perfectly displayed against Sporting, and the Blaugrana certainly need to improve on that performance. Either way, Pep Guardiola isn’t to worried about his side’s football as he told the media:

“I’m not unhappy with how we’re playing at the moment. La Liga will be well matched. Everybody can beat anyone as each game is hard to win.”

Assessing his statements, is Pep Guardiola anticipating a disappointing result at San Mames? Anything less than a victory for Barcelona against Athletic Bilbao will definitely bring relief to rivals Real Madrid who play Levante earlier on the same day.

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