Barcelona will come back as strong as ever next year, declares Valdes

Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes had dismissed talk of an end of an era at Camp Nou insisting that the Catalans will come back "as strong as ever next year."

The imminent departure of coach Pep Guardiola, coupled with their failure to retain their Champions League and Primera Division titles, has prompted many pundits to claim that the Blaugrana's cycle of success is drawing to a close.

However, with Barca still in contention to end their campaign on a high by winning the Copa del Rey, Valdes insisted that the mood in the dressing room was far from downbeat after their final Liga outing of the season against Real Betis on Saturday night.

“We hope to win the cup," the Spain international told reporters after the 2-2 draw in Seville. "This season two important titles have slipped away, but we’ll be back as strong as ever next year."

Although he conceded twice at the Benito Villamartin, Valdes still managed to seal his fourth successive Zamora award - and his fifth in total, thus equaling the record of former Blaugrana goalkeeper Antoni Ramallets - and he argued that the accolade underlined that there is not that much wrong with this current Barca side, particularly from a defensive perspective.

“The award was not a priority, but it’s important for the whole team to win this award,” the 30-year-old argued. “But I was very excited with the prospect of winning my fifth Zamora and equalling Ramallets' record. I’ve always looked up to him.”

As for the game itself, Valdes felt it had been an absorbing contest was pleased with the way in which the Catalans had snatched a point at the death through Seydou Keita, after having had Dani Alves sent off while a goal to the good early in the second-half before then conceding a quick-fire double to Ruben Castro.

“Betis a team that play excellent football," he enthused. " Both teams had chances to score but, in the end, it ended in a draw.”

Barca will now be hoping to give the outgoing Guardiola a fitting send-off in the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao on May 25.