Puyol: "At the end, the best team always wins"

Barcelona player Carles Puyol gave an interview to Catalan sports paper Sport.





It seems like Barça is winning their games without too much effort. How do you keep the feet on the ground?
Well, I don't think that's true and that was proven against Osasuna. We were lucky to win, we were close to losing the three points. This makes you keep the feet on the ground.

Comfortable leaders in the Liga, the most feared opponent in the Champions league, favourites in the Copa... You remember going through a better moment at Barça?
Yes, it's better when you win trophies. The season is doing very good so far, the people are happy and we are too. But we have to win a trophy.

You think it's unfair that there is nothing left of a great season if you don't win trophies?
It's not unfair. At the end, the best team always wins, especially in a long competition like the Liga.

There can be some luck involved in such a long season?
You can be lucky at some moments, but you have to look for it. Things are turning out well for us, maybe better than we expected because it's not easy to win that many games in a row.

How did the team get there?
With motivation, desire, working a lot and, above all, by having more confidence. After the first two games of the seasons there were doubts. But little by little our confidence grew. At certain moments we needed to turn the situation around and when you are then able to do that, this give you more confidence.

What has Guardiola changed?
A new cycle has begun. Pep has brought his ideas to the team, he's doing great like the results prove and we need to continue the same way.

What did the coach asked you, being the captain, when he was appointed?
He perfectly knows what it means to play with Barcelona and to be the captain. I never talk about private conversations, but I can tell that those talks were very important for me.

Is this the easiest year since you became captain?
If things are going well it's always easier, although there have also been seasons where we didn't win a trophgy but there weren't problems either.

All those positive comments can lead to some fear to perfrom well?
There's a lot of positive talking about this team, that's right. But in the dressingroom you always have to keep the feet on the ground and be aware that we didn't win anything yet.

It seems like the players have more work blocking the tributes than playing well...
I think we're doing some great things and this has to be valued, but we don't have a trophy yet. If people are happy, it's normal that the press is positive. Our task is not to think that we are the best and to keep on doing the same as we have done so far.

You've always insisted that Barça can still get better.
The main thing is keeping the intensity, which isn't easy. The team should keep the same desire to win. If we can do that, every team will have difficutlies to beat us.


This was the first part of this interview. You will be able to read the following parts in the coming days with Puyol talking -among other things- about the role of Piqué in the squad and about his tattoos.

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