Jordi Roura was very satisfied with his players' reaction after two tough blows this week: the defeat away to Milan and Sevilla’s go-ahead goal. “We can lose a match, but what’s truly important is how we react. We just played a very difficult match ... we had the game under control but they scored. Once again, this team dug deep and fought it out to win a very important league game. The reaction was splendid,” said the assistant manager.
Cold blood
Roura let the journalists in on what he told his players during halftime: “I told them to be calm and I talked about varying our tactics. We still had 45 minutes left and the game was wide open. The worst thing we could have done is rush things.” When asked about his decision to sub out Alexis at the break for Tello, he explained: “Sevilla were closed off at the back, and it was difficult for us to find space. Tello played an important role, he had a great game and with him, we had more depth.”
On subbing in Busquets with 15 minutes to go, Roura said, “the idea was not to concede any more goals. It’s true that we are having problems in this regard and we have to improve, especially in our positional play ... it’s obvious this bothers us, we want to fix it.”
The first Clásico
Barça's coaching staff are now focused on the team’s next match, the return leg of the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid: “Clásicos are always important, but there’s no doubt that the one this Tuesday is decisive in the Cup and the one on Saturday isn’t, because we have more league games that come after. Therefore, the one on Tuesday is more important.” He was enigmatic when asked about Barça’s possible line-up: “We just played a tough match. Tito, Aureli [Altimira] and I will discuss it and then we’ll decide [who will play].”