Alves: "This game has been a lesson for us"

Speaking to journalists after the European Super Cup game against Shakhtar Donetsk yesterday, Barcelona players Víctor Valdés and Daniel Alves commented on the game:


Valdés
"We have the luck to have won another title, a very important one. We made up for the defeat of 2006. It has been a very good year, we could not ask for more.

I think a final should be won no matter how. The only thing that counts is winning it, not the way you win it. We owe this to the coaching staff for keeping us relaxed. They played a very tactical game, speculating on the counter-attack. The playing surface was in a bad state and the heat and humidity was difficult. But we weren't looking for excuses and we went for it in the extra-time. I hope this won't affect the team performance on Monday."

Alves
"This game has been a lesson for us. Every team is playing at a very high level these days and if you relax you can lose a title. The team had to work very hard. Today the field and the heat have not helped. The conditions were the most difficult opponent.

We are a great team that plays the game the way it should be played but we must keep improving. It is necessary to continue along this line, we must be prepared for anything. I think the team is well aware if everything we have achieved, but to continue doing important things, you always have to do more. We need to stay ambitious."

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