Pep Guardiola: "I'm sure Neymar and Messi won't have any problems"

Posted Saturday, July 13, 2013 by Marca.com

Pep Guardiola:

Josep Guardiola has brushed off suggestions that Neymar's arrival could upset the apple cart at Barcelona, where Lionel Messi is used to being the main man. "Barcelona has always had some of the most brilliant players in the world in its squad... Neymar and Messi are undoubtedly two of the best out there today. I know Messi well; he's a fantastic player and a fantastic person. And I've met Neymar and he seemed like a good lad. I'm sure they won't have any problems playing together at Barça".

Guardiola also sought to play down the doom and gloom surrounding Barça's slip-up in last year's Champions League: "A team that reaches 100 points in the Champions League can hardly be in crisis. It's true that Barcelona struggled with injuries towards the end of the campaign, but it still had a great season", he stated.

Finally, the Bayern coach claimed that there was nothing out of the ordinary about Spain's defeat in the Confederations Cup final. "Spain losing seemed perfectly normal to me. Brazil was top-notch in physical terms and the whole team really stuck to the game plan tactically. It was a wonderful performance", he concluded.