FC Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was delighted with racking up the first title of the season. The coach highlighted the difficulty of these matches “A final is always hard because anything could happen.” However, he was proud of his players who responded perfectly, “we have been at the highest level, the team has been very dynamic in putting pressure, and we moved the ball well, which was all very crucial for the team.” The coach also ended any sort of euphoria and stressed that people should stop thinking about another triplet, “The triplet hasn’t existed for a long time, and we were the first to get it, but these things do not happen often.”

Guardiola also had a few words of praise for his new addition, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, “he has been perfect today,” he also added that the player will soon get used to putting pressure of the opposing defenders, but was overall happy with the Ibra’s performance. Guardiola also praised another new player, Maxwell, “He has been very good, he’s a fantastic lad and has already won all his team-mates in the locker room.”

The coach concluded by having to again remove his hat to the quality of Lionel Messi. He clarified that this season he will be the on in charge of penalties, “In principle, he will be responsible for it, he is a guarantee,” concluded the coach.

With regard to new signings, Guardiola wanted to stress out that he trusts his young players and if necessary he will promote some. “If we don’t sign any new players, some of the youngsters will stay with us, but certain things will change. I still haven’t decided which players will be included. I know they are inexperienced, they are young, but they are ready. Iniesta and Xavi went through exactly the same process. We have players of many levels,” he asserted.

Following his great performances during the pre-season, it was plausible to expect that the club will offer the new contract to the Spanish youngster. Moreover, Pep Guardiola has praised Pedro on many occasions for his determination and commitment to the club.

What kind of memories spring to your mind when you think of your time in Barca?

I loved to be a player of Barca. It’s a great club and it allowed me to play alongside great players. However, things were not only rosy, as I spent majority of the time on the bench or sidelined due to injuries. I couldn’t demonstrate my worth and when a new president came I had to go.

Do you keep a close eye on Barca?

Of course I do. I follow all the teams I’ve played for and of course Barca is one of them. I’m very content to see the brilliant work that Pep Guardiola is doing. And now my ex-teammate from Ajax, Zlatan, reinforced the team. Then there are Puyol and Xavi who are playing superbly… Valdes who was still very young but very promising during my epoch in Barca. All this gives me a great satisfaction.

Do you have any contacts with any of your ex-teammates from Barca?

I’ve visited Barca only once since my departure, but I met some of the players later on when they moved to other clubs. I will take advantage of the first opportunity to visit Barcelona, both the city and the club.

Did you expect Pep Guardiola to have so much success in his debut season as the coach of the first team?

Yes, of course. Pep was as a player one of the best in the history of this club. He won everything that there was possible to win. He knows the culture of the club, the culture of people. He knows everything about Barca and people there admire him. He had a lot of support from the start and he demonstrated his qualities as the coach and the results were very good, it couldn’t have been better. He has some very good players in the team, but that surely doesn’t make things easy.

Do you think it’s plausible to expect another treble?

I hope that the team maintains the good form, but I know it’s almost impossible because to play better than last year will be very difficult. But I wish all the best to the team and the club. You never know what might happen in the future and I wish them all the best.

You played alongside with Ibrahimovic during the years 2002-2004 in Ajax. How do you see him in Barca?

Zlatan has all the predispositions for success. He was great in Ajax, Juventus, Inter and all other teams that he has played for. Also for the Swedish national team. I have no doubts about his personality and his capacities as a player. I played with him for two years and I know him well. He is a great signing for Barca, with distinct characteristics from Eto’o's, but certain virtues he has make him a very good striker.

Ibrahimovic said during the presentation that he can score more than 25 goals this season. Is it possible?

Of course. Barca plays the most offensive football in Europe. With the players it has everything is possible.

The staff would rather see if he remained in Barca and the players stated that he feels no urge for being impetuous: “I had many problems last year as I didn’t demonstrate all of my qualities in a manner I wanted to, but at the end of the year my form grew and I was playing much better. With Guardiola you can always have sanguine expectations to play for the first team, but I want to improve from year to year, especially from the psychological point of view.”

Guardiola called on the player to take part in the first team training carried out today at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper sports facilities.

Since many of the first team players are out of the country on international duty, the Blaugrana coach had only 14 players to train. Along with Robert, youth players Jeffrén, dos Santos, Muniesa and Fontas were also present for training.

However three first team players who would usually be called up to represent their countries are Spaniard Andrés Iniesta, Swede Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Frenchman Thierry Henry. The three players are recovering from injuries, and so are training under Guardiola.

Henry and Iniesta continued their rehabilitation indoors, while Zlatan, who is recovering from a broken arm, trained with normality with the rest of the squad.

Pep Guardiola was all but thrilled with his form during the US tour and his performance against LA Galaxy could be considered as the thin end of the wedge. Namely, Henrique lost the ball in Barca’s own side of the pitch and was compelled to foul Beckham, who scored from the same free kick. Just a few minutes later he was substituted.

In the second game against the Seattle Sounders, Pep rotated him and played him as the right-back; unfortunately Henrique didn’t convince Pep which resulted in him not playing against Chivas.

Muniesa worked with Pique as the part of central defenders and after the break Fontas played on the same position alongside Puyol. They were playing very well and Guardiola feels very optimistic about incorporating them into the squad in case Chygrynskiy’s deal comes to no avail.

Henrique meanwhile is going through a nightmare. He isn’t playing and Guardiola is ruminating over a possibility to loan him out once again. But the Brazilian remains optimistic and is willing to demonstrate that he belongs to this team.

The Swedish striker is expected to undergo last examinations of his injured arm in order to get a full approval from the doctors to start with trainings. However Pep Guardiola reiterated on many instances that he doesn’t want to rush any things and wants Ibrahimovic to heal his arm in a proper manner.

Various reports have suggested that we could witness Zlatan’s debut at the Gamper Cup on August, 19 when Barca plays against Manchester City, but a lot will depend on the doctors’ reports on the injury.

“99% of coaches around the world would want to have these players in their teams. I would sound pretentious and presumptuous if I said I am not happy with the squad I have. We’re more than competitive. All the players have to work in order to make other teammates better. We know that they have the talent,” said Pep Guardiola.

When asked about the arrival of Ibrahimovic, Pep calmly answered that nothing will change in terms of leadership, with Messi as the most important player in the team.