Barca victims in travel fiasco, fumes Guardiola

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. Five days after crushing Real Madrid 5-0, Barcelona ended the week furious at having to make a five-hour overland dash to Pamplona, helpless victims of the air traffic controllers strike which paralyzed Spain.

Five days after crushing Real Madrid 5-0, Barcelona ended the week furious at having to make a five-hour overland dash to Pamplona, helpless victims of the air traffic controllers strike which paralyzed Spain.
Barcelona were unable to fly to the fixture against Osasuna due to the industrial strife, but the Spanish football federation (RFEF) then reversed their decision to postpone the game until Sunday.
That meant the Catalan club undertook a hectic five-hour train and coach journey to Pamplona via Zaragoza and the 20:00 (1900 GMT) kick-off was delayed by 50 minutes.
Despite the nightmare preparation, Barcelona won 3-0 to stay two points ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the Spanish first division, but coach Pep Guardiola could not contain his anger.
"We were in contact all the time with the RFEF and we have been victims of the situation," seethed Guardiola.
"We were told that the game would be suspended if we were unable to travel (by plane). We waited and then finally after all the pressure they got, they told us we would lose the three points if we didn't play.
"We don't mind travelling. Last season we did 14 hours on a coach to play a Champions League match because UEFA said they wouldn't postpone the match. However, the Spanish federation told us that if our flight didn't go they would postpone the (Osasuna) match.
"To play against Osasuna, a team that were unbeaten in 12 games, we wanted to compete as best as we could and coming in on one day was not the best way to do that."