In a rare display of uber optimism, Pep Guardiola stated that he is confident that Barca will do the necessary to conquer Chelsea and make it to the second consecutive Champions League final. “Believe me when I say we will make it tomorrow,” said Guardiola. “I believe this for hundreds of reasons; these players will beat Chelsea. I know there’s a wish for us not to make it, but let us believe that we will.”

This change of attitude may have risen because the last six days haven’t been the best – neither for the cules nor the fans. Guardiola senses the flagging spirits need a healthy dose of motivation coupled with confidence. “All our semi-finals have been very tough and we know the first leg was disappointing, but we can’t think about that,” said Guardiola wanting to move on from the past. “I know they will do it tomorrow because I know they can do it. They will play to win. I don’t have any doubt that we will be in Munich. It’s their moment. They are great, unique, and they will always be in our memories and tomorrow, they’ll do it again.” Just the medication cules needed.

With the Liga all but lost and back-to-back defeats in the crucial part of the season, Guardiola perhaps faces his toughtest test as a manager. He said, “I don’t know if this is my greatest challenge as coach. I always face challenges with optimism because I have faith in this team and the players. Whenever we lose or draw it hurts for a few days, but with my faith and optimism I know we will do everything we can.”

Even as he has full faith in his players’s abilities and desire to win the match with a margin that takes them to Munich, Guardiola is also guarded about Chelsea. “It’s a new challenge for us. They are a fantastic rival, very difficult and we’re ready to fight against them in the Champions League semi-final in order to get to the final. We have to be careful, we know of Chelsea’s qualities and we have to find the way to create chances and score goals. We have to think about the way we can get past them, that’s the key; to see in what way we can score goals and avoid the dangers of Chelsea. I believe that their style of play will be dependent on the result. They’ll wait for us to lose the ball and then come out. It’s at this point that we have to be ready.”

Talking about he plans to oveturn the 1-0 deficit, Guardiola said, “They are a strong physical team, defensive. They play into space well. Seeing all of this, we need to find the balance between patience and necessary intensity. I don’t think we’ll have a lot of chances and we must be ready to convert them when we have them. I have no doubt that with patience and intensity we’ll be able to go through. We’re starting with a goal against us, we have 90 minutes ahead of us and we’ll do everything we can to overturn the result.”

About the team’s current form, Guardiola felt that they had done a “a good job. You can always improve your previous work. We’ve done it so well in the past that at times we underestimate our rivals. I think that we played great football this past week. Watching the game against Madrid, I believe we did a good job. It’s not easy to create goal-scoring chances against such a physical team that wait for you in their own half. Our football is peculiar. That’s the way it is, passing the ball is our essence, and that’s how we’ll play while I’m manager. I’m convinced that in time people will see what we were.”

The fact that Messi hasn’t scored in the last two games has been seen as one of the factors for Barca’s losses. But Guardiola isn’t worried about the player’s form. Said Guardiola, “Allow me to never have to be concerned about Messi. Even if he doesn’t score for 27 matches. Give him tranquility and the right to not have to score goals until he wants to. He’s scored a brutal amount of goals this season. Let him play, be happy and be who he’s always been. His ambition helps us all.”

Asked about Pique, he said the defender is “a happy lad, that loves his profession and his life. There’s nothing wrong between Gerard and I. He hasn’t played for a while, and now he has recovered. We started together, and I appreciate him greatly. He’s the same person that I met four years ago, a happy lad, that loves his profession and his life. He’s got football and a lot of other things going for him. I’m not here to tell him what he needs to do. He has the right to have concerns. I want him like this; just the way he is.”

It’s good to hear that the players themselves have moved on from the Madrid defeat and are already looking forward to the next game. “It’s impossible not to be excited about this match. The players are human beings and they want to play well and win all competitions,” he said. “It’s very easy to tell them not to be excited or nervous, not to lose balls, but we have to learn how to manage these situations and they know well enough how to manage these games.”

Source: www.uefa.com, www.fcbarcelona.com; Photo credit: Jasper Juinen/Getty Images