Carles Puyol appeared at a press conference earlier on today and told how the Barca dressing room reacted to the news about Tito Vilanova: “It was a tough day, especially in the morning when we heard the news for the first time.”
It was a heavy blow and the news was hard to take but Tito came into the dressing room, explained it to us gave us strength to carry on. He hadn’t left and yet he was saying that he wanted to return. We felt more encouraged today because the news is good and Tito’s operation has gone very well.”
Puyol added: “It’s a hard punch to take, and as Zubizaretta said, it’s a blow straight to the jaw, but one has to get up and keep on fighting. This team has always done that and will do so again.”
Talking about the draw against Milan, the captain said: “I am personally very pleased with the draw and I said that I liked playing against Milan. It’s a team that I’ve always liked and I like playing there. It’ll be a nice match.”
On the Madrid vs. Manchester draw – he called them two of the best teams in the world. The rest of the Spanish teams have complicated draws but for him the Spanish teams are favourites, he said.
He believes that everything will be fine amongst the team: “It’s a very responsible team and we have to keep on doing what we’ve always done. The best way to help Tito is to carry on as normal and win our matches.”
“Nobody is ever prepared to receive news like this and unfortunately, it’s the fourth piece of bad news we’ve had. Abi (Abidal) also gives strength to the team and he will certainly help Tito, too. If you fight you can carry on and compete at the highest possible level,” said Carles Puyol.
Support for Jordi Roura the assistant coach
“He’s been at the club for years. He’s very active in training and nothing will change our approach,” he said, talking about Jordi Roura, the assistant coach. “We have to be calm about it and not get nervous. Keep doing what we are doing now, that’s all,” he added.
Referring to Abidal he said: “I see him very well. He is already been training for some days and now he’s training with the team. He feels better each day, he’s getting stronger and will soon be able to compete.”
About his own contract renewal, Carles Puyol said: “It was the club that offered to keep me until 2016 and I’ll keep playing as long as I feel fit enough. I’d like to honour the contract and if I can play on longer, I will.”
Mourinho is reaping what he sow in season past, of being disorganise spanish league. He has not see anything in r.madrid. Mourinho came to spain because of the great barcelona giant. My prayer is that he should not runaway from madrid let him stay and face barcelona.