Pep Guardiola again sent a soothing message of his renewal in his pre-Copa del Rey match press conference yesterday. Out of contract in June, he still thinks this is not the best time to sign but said, “For a coach, after a certain time, things can become routine for him and when that time comes one must get away from it but there’s still a lot of time left in the contract and the club knows I will never abandon them, so please let me do my job in peace.”

“Barca has a solid foundation since from the time of Laporta and everything will be easy for them. The players had extended their contracts and there is continuity in the team. That is the fundamental thing,”

“If they don’t have me, they will have another. It is just not good that a club is relying on only one coach. The club is strong and it will continue to exist,” added the coach, who turned 40 on Tuesday.

“What I will not do is wait until the last two days of my contract to make a decision. The president knows that within a reasonable time frame we will meet again and calmly resolve this. We will sit down calmly, put all the matters on the table and a decision will be taken. I need my time to see how things are going and the team has shown me they have the desire to keep on fighting, running, and it is my job to see to this,” he said further.

On the upcoming match, the coach of FC Barcelona, despite reaping a 5-0 first-leg victory, is wary of Betis and asks his players to give their full focus.

“We have great respect for our rivals. They had a great match here and of course they also want to win. We already knew they are a strong side but after the encounter, we saw it firsthand. We must pay close attention because they have solid arguments to generate problems for us. They created a lot of scoring chances and we must again play a good game. We are not going to reserve anything, are not going to defend any result, but will go out with the intention of winning the match.”

“I’m not quite sure who to pick for this match. Against another team I would have picked players from the reserve but not against Betis. We have a dream result to hold on to but we will do well to take this match seriously. It is a rival that I don’t trust, so this is not a match where we can take a break or to dismiss anything,” he said.

Asked if the difference in the standings with Real Madrid is crucial, Guardiola said: “If we are certain we can perform in the second round as we did in the first that difference would be great, but nobody can guarantee anything.”

“With another team, we can say that four points are a good advantage but if a team has lives, Real Madrid has more of them, and it will extend itself to fight, play well, compete…and against Madrid, that kind of an advantage is nothing.”

And he called it “nonsense” the talk of another triplete as being his team’s goal for this season: “What we need to do now is to win against Betis. The attention should always be focused on the immediate job at hand because when you start looking ahead that is when you start to fail.”

Responding to a question on why he is not playing Thiago Alcantara more, considering he is officially set to join the first team next season, Guardiola said, “Thiago is unique in many ways and he is special. He has contributed things that at times we don’t possess. He is valuable when we need to unlock tightly closed defences and a lot more other offerings. Only he himself, through his will and patience, can determine whether he’ll be here for many years or not. We like to bet on players like him but not all will get to be promoted to the first team. It is not easy and they have to earn it.”

“During these recent times, he has accompanied us so we can follow his progression closely and to know if he has the attributes to make it into the first team. We knew he can help out the team a lot this season. We have already seen he has the aptitude, but right now we have enough players and some of them are getting on with age. On the other hand, he needs to play too. I want him to pick his rhythm back up, for one day we might have an urgency and we need him. I don’t want Thiago to languish on the bench for he is still very young. I prefer that he plays in the reserve and continue playing.”

The Barcelona coach also rejected the notion that the arrival of Ibrahim Afellay has slowed Thiago’s progression: “Players closed and open doors for themselves, and Thiago was last season still in the youth squad and next season he’ll be in the first team. I don’t believe that the decision [to bring in Afellay] will slow anyone’s progression.”

He was also questioned about whether he can say that Messi is the best player ever, after receiving his second Ballon d’Or: “That is very hard to say. You’ll have to wait until he finishes with his career, and only time and other people can decide that. But he is one of best for he has already demonstrated that at his tender age of 23, not only because of the awards but also for his consistently high level game.”

Finally, the Blaugrana coach made light of the appointment of Clos Gomez, the referee whom he accused of submitting an untruthful match report about his expulsion from the bench last season: “That was already in the past. I will not change my opinion and we welcome back his officiating.”