Pep Guardiola assumed full responsibility for Barcelona's Copa del
Rey defeat to Sevilla, but remains confident the tie is by no means
lost.
With the possibility of Barca facing nine matches in January
alone, Guardiola opted to make a host of changes for Tuesday
night's last-16 first leg at the Nou Camp.
Of the XI that started Saturday's 1-1 Primera Division draw
with Villarreal, only Dani Alves and Pedro Rodriguez began against
Sevilla as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Victor Valdes,
Gerard Pique and Thierry Henry were all named on the bench.
Guardiola was still able to send out a fairly strong team
with Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta among a host of internationals
in the starting line-up, but it was not enough to prevent Barca
from slipping to a 2-1 defeat in front of their own fans.
Guardiola, who led Barca to a record-breaking six trophies in
2009 in what was his first full year in charge, conceded he made an
error in his team selection.
"We've lost and therefore I was wrong," said Guardiola, who
also pointed out that he had made mistakes before but "as we were
winning, there were no complaints".
However, with Barca still chasing fresh honours on three
fronts this season, Guardiola insists he will need to carry on
utilising his whole squad if the Catalan giants are to continue
their remarkable run of success.
"I'm the one who takes the decisions," he added.
"I make changes because I'm the one in charge, at least until
the president gets rid of me.
"I make changes for the health of the changing room, because
all the players deserve it and I want them to play. I need them
all.
"The six titles were won by all of us, and not only 11
players."
Despite last night's home loss, though, Guardiola has faith
that his side can turn things around in next week's second leg at
the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan and book their spot in the
quarter-finals.
"There's no doubt that we are going to bounce back. What we
need to do is attack and score goals," he said.
