Guardiola still wary of Hospitalet

Posted Friday, November 11, 2011 by ESPN

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola believes his side's Copa del Rey tie against Hospitalet is "wide open".

The reigning European champions could only manage an unconvincing 1-0 win in Wednesday's first leg.

Andres Iniesta scored the only goal of the game to give Barca a slender advantage against their unfancied third-tier opponents ahead of the return leg at the Nou Camp on December 21.

Barca will head into the second leg of the fourth-round tie just days after returning from their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan, and Guardiola admits the timing is far from perfect.

"The final result is what it is," Guardiola told fcbarcelona.com. "The tie is wide open.

"We would have liked to have larger goal margin going into the return leg to be a bit more secure.

"We don't know what shape we'll be in when we return from Japan. It would have been good to have another goal, but we'll see how we're doing when we return."

Guardiola praised the Segunda Division B side after they provided a stern test at Feixa Llarga.
"It was a really intense game between two teams with lots of personality, and we had to put in a lot of effort," he said.

"I want to congratulate Hospitalet on the good team they are and for the level of play they showed us.

"They played a good game, they opened up and were willing to play. They have a lot of talent and their keeper was simply fantastic.

"We lacked a little bit in breaking their defensive system down."