Cruyff: "You never have to start a final with fear"

Former Barcelona player and manager Johan Cruijff gave an interview to Catalan newspaper El Periódico.





How do you see the final against Manchester?
Every final is normally an open game. You never have to start a final with fear.

At Wembley in 1992, you said: "Get out there and enjoy".
You have to enjoy every moment. If you are suffering when you go out there, you cannot give one hundred per cent. If you go out there willing to enjoy, you can give one hundred per cent.

The job is already done after the double?
You always want more, which is logical. But the pressure is the thing that changes. The Liga is prestigious and you already have your back covered, also because you're qualified for Champions League of the next season. And above that, you've also won the cup. They have to look at the Champions League and the treble as something wonderful, something that nobody has done before, but without the pressure of seeing it as an obligation because they you can get into troubles.

You've regularly praised Manchester.
I like their organization, their calmness. Although they had some problems with the American investors, it was always calm within the team. In a way, it's not the president who's leading the club, it's the coach , the manager, Ferguson. I prefer that English system. Why did the job of sports director was created in other clubs? To sack the coach when things aren't going well? If a sports director has been a player, he knows something about football, but there are a lot of things he doesn't know. In England, the manager decides and he's taking the responsibility. If things aren't going well, they throw him out.

What would you point out from Manchester?
The calmness I mentioned. They never lose their heads. Last season they won the league, this season again. They are following a line and nothing makes them nervous. Barça shouldn't get nervous either now, for the simple reason tat they're playing the best football in the world. We don't know if they will be able to play it in Rome though. Barça was lucky in the tie with Chelsea, but the two best teams have reached the final and you have to enjoy this game.

Barcelona will feel the absences in the defense?
That's another thing I don't like, that there are players who lose a game like that because of a suspension. The referees in the semi-finals totally failed. It's not right that Fletcher cannot play the final because of the foul he made against Arsenal. It's not right they take the final away from Alves and Abidal because none of them has hurt anyone. It's a shame that the teams cannot count on their best line-up. The best players should be out there. I'm not in favour of rules like that, although I understand that UEFA cannot change things now.

What about the duel between Cristano Ronaldo and Messi?
That's something for the press, the television stations, the pundits. I always look at the team. If Barça plays well, Messi will play well. Who's the favourite? Another issue that has been discussed over the last ten days. Both are favourites. It's the best final possible. But on Thursday half of the people involved won't be happy.

Barça could play with a team that consists for more than a half of youth players. Valdés, Puyol, Iniesta, Xavi...
It's an example of how far you can get in football. It's for example obvious that a Dutch club cannot buy a player like Messi at this moment. He's outside their reach. But they can create a player like him in their youth academy. 90% of the clubs have enough money to invest in their youth and to sign promising players.


Read more:
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Vilanova: "Details will decide the final"
Keita: "We have to make one more step"
Xavi: "We have to go out there, win it and that's it"
Pique: "I will score in Rome"