Carles Puyol has dismissed Pep Guardiola's statement that he let the Barcelona players down at Sevilla and revealed the Catalan team's renewed determination to win the Spanish title and UEFA Champions League.
The Blaugrana trainer said that he felt responsible for the away goal defeat by Sevilla in the Copa del Rey as he tried to take the pressure of his squad.
Club captain Puyol did not agree, however, and instead preferred to look at the positives after Barca saw the defence of the first trophy from their historic treble-winning season end.
"[Guardiola] didn't let us down at all. He prepared the game really well and we only just lost," the defender told a press conference on Thursday.
"I've always said that it's the players who win or lose games. We are very proud of the boss.
"We're not happy about being knocked out, but we have to use it to make us stronger. Now we have to fight even harder for the league and Champions League titles."
Barcelona won the game in midweek thanks to a goal from Xavi, but Sevilla's 2-1 win in Camp Nou last week meant that the Andalucian outfit sneaked through on aggregate.
"Nobody likes to be eliminated from a knock-out competition and it doesn't make me feel any better knowing we lost to a good team like Sevilla," Puyol added.
"Nobody can accuse us of anything about last night's game. We gave a good account of ourselves and we kept fighting till the end."
Sevilla stun BarcelonaBraun’s progress shown in national team camp invite
