Humble Moutinho sporting in defeat
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Article summary
Linked with a move to FC Barcelona in the summer, João Moutinho insisted it was "a privilege" to finally play at Camp Nou, albeit as Sporting Clube de Portugal's losing captain during Tuesday's 3-1 win for the Catalan side.
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'A privilege'
The fact that central defender Tonel reduced the deficit to 2-1 with just over a quarter of an hour left, before Xavi Hernández added Barça's third with three minutes to go, might have offered Moutinho the chance to claim that Sporting had been within touching distance of an important draw, but the Portuguese international knew better. "It's been a privilege to play at Camp Nou and my only complaint is a collective one that we never reached our normal level of performance" he said.
Tactical change
"Barça changed their tactical shape with the way that they would push four into midfield and that took us a lot of time to come to terms with," he continued. "It meant that we didn't have enough good possession of the ball and couldn't put them under sufficient pressure. At half-time we took stock and changed our approach. That meant we pressed them more and closed space in midfield which, eventually, allowed us to create a few chances of our own. Generally we had a better display in the second half despite conceding two goals but the truth is that we never truly hit our best level."
Flattering interest
Transfer gossip linked Moutinho with a move to Camp Nou during the summer as a direct replacement for Deco, who moved to Chelsea FC. When Barça director of football Txiki Begiristain admitted that players of Moutinho's standard were "interesting", it was sufficient to push the speculation into overdrive. However, the transfer deadline came and went without anything concrete happening and although the Portuguese playmaker admits having appreciated the interest, his focus is now elsewhere.
'It's flattering'
"Obviously it's flattering simply to have your name linked with a club like Barcelona but that moment has passed and I'm 100 per cent focused on playing well and leading Sporting. The other result in our group [FC Shakhtar Donetsk's win 2-1 at FC Basel 1893] was an intriguing one and so the fact we've lost here makes it all the more important to take the results one at a time to see whether there will be a four-way battle for first place or whether the group might separate into a battle for first and second and third and fourth. Only time will tell."