Guardiola: Barcelona Will Not Trounce Numancia

Pep Guardiola has told Barcelona supporters not to expect his team to trounce Numancia on Saturday evening and wants all talk of revenge to stop.

Los Pajaritos are the only team to have beaten the Blaugrana in the league this term, but few expect them to complete the double when the second half of the campaign starts this weekend.

All the talk around Camp Nou is about how Barça should easily defeat Sergio Kresic's side and avenge that opening embarrassment, but Guardiola has played down those expectations.

“We are not going to see a big win,” he told reporters after training on Friday.

“I want people to stop thinking that will happen. It will be a hard fought game and if do not play well and find our rhythm then it could cost us.

"If we win then it will be late on after a lot of hard work. I really want to win and to take a step forward against a good team.”

“The feeling is that we already have the three points in the bag and there is a real possibility that the same thing could happen again that happened in the first game if we think like that.”

Guardiola did not want any talk of revenge either. “That can distract you from the job in hand,” he added.

Numancia gained promotion to the top flight at the end of last season and many expected them to go straight back down, but they are more than holding their own among the big boys.

“I think that Numancia deserve a great deal of respect for what they have achieved,” Guardiola conitnued.

“They have done well, like against Sevilla when they were well-organised daring and did not feel any pressure. Sergio Kresic is one of the best trainers defensively.”

Lucas Brown, Goal.com