What about the Olympic tournament?
The Olympic tournament creates some problems for the clubs, but all the players love to participate in the Olympic Games, and the clubs know that the release of the players is a little complicated.
Who are your best players now?
Of course, Ronaldo and Messi.
For the Best Player awards list, we expect some Barcelona players. Do you see a difference between the Barcelona of Pep Guardiola and the Barcelona of Luis Enrique?
Of course, a lot of difference. Who was the forward in Pep’s team? When I saw them beat Santos in Tokyo, when they won 4-0, there was no forward. There were Messi and Fabregas, there was total [movement]. Now we have three forwards: Messi, Suarez and Neymar. That’s totally different.
How did Barcelona win the last Champions League?
Counter-attack. It’s like Juventus against Italians. They beat them by counter-attack. That didn’t happen some years ago.
This shows that you have to adapt your team to respect your players. When you have Messi, Neymar and Suarez, you play differently to when you have other players.
Do you have a preference?
No. I enjoy watching the players. To make these choices is your job as journalists, not mine. I am no longer national-team coach – I look at the security of the stadium, I look to see that the referee doesn’t make a mistake, and I look to see players playing well.
The Barcelona of Guardiola or Luis Enrique – who would have been the better coach for you as a player?
It’s different [now]. Look where Messi played before, and where he plays now. It’s two different styles of game. Now he plays on the right, but before, when he began, he played on the left, then he played more [centrally], now on the right because players change and the coach is not stupid. Does the coach say: ‘I play like that because I want to’? No, it’s because he has players who play like that.
For example, Barcelona won the Champions League final when Juventus thought that they could win the game. They played like Italians at the end, and won by playing on the counter-attack. When Juventus started thinking they could win, they lost – because Barcelona have three fantastic players who can score when they want.
