Barcelona coach Guardiola takes blame for Sevilla loss
Published:Thursday | January 7, 2010 | 12:00 AM
BARCELONA, Spain (AP):
Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said yesterday he is to blame for his team's 2-1 loss against Sevilla in the Copa del Rey.
The coach said that "he messed up" with his team line-up and tactics for Tuesday's round-of-16 first-leg game at the Camp Nou stadium.
Guardiola used several squad members who have rarely played this season, such as Gabriel Milito, Thiago, Bojan Krkic and goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto. Another occasional first-team member, Dmytro Chigrinskiy, pulled down Diego Capel in the area to concede a penalty that led to Sevilla's winning goal.
The coach said the Ukraine defender, who was booed by some Barcelona fans for his performance, "will come good".
Capel scored Sevilla's first goal and Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored for Barcelona.
The return leg will be played next week and Guardiola was bullish about his team's chances.
"There's no doubt that we will overturn the deficit and make it to the quarter-finals," he said.