Barcelona: Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has accepted the 0-0 draw with Sevilla in their La Liga clash on Saturday, highlighting their opponent's defensive resolve throughout the clash.
The champions were seemingly on top for the most part, and were close to sealing all three points, only for goalkeeper Javi Varas to keep out Lionel Messi's late penalty.
"We must congratulate the Sevilla defence and tonight's big-game player Javi Varas," Guardiola said after the match to AS. "However, I think we played well, but we must congratulate the performance of Sevilla, and get back up and kick back on Tuesday."
The 41-year-old also admitted that the defensive set-up of Sevilla was too resistant to Barcelona pressure during the 90 minutes, despite his side typically dominating possession.
"It's never easy to play against a team that plays too defensively, with nine players at the back, as there is no room," explained the former Brescia midfielder. "Sevilla had only one attack at our goal, but we also saw that we could score a goal on the counter."
"We had 77 per cent possession but we failed to find that first goal, even if we did have many occasions to attack their defence," he continued. "I want to thank the team and the fans - all 80-odd thousand people who attended.
Barcelona are second in La Liga following their goalless draw, after Real Madrid's convincing 4-0 victory over Malaga sees them go top of the standings.
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