21 Apr 2010 – 10:23:03

Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola has refused to blame his side’s long journey to Italy for their 3-1 Champions League semi-final first leg loss to Internazionale.

The reigning European and La Liga champions travelled by coach following the air travel problems following the volcanic eruption in Iceland and his team were not at their usual stylish best in Italy.

Midfielder Pedro opened the scoring for the Spanish outfit but they failed to take control of proceedings and Inter scored through Wesley Sneijder, Maicon and Diego Milito to open up a healthy lead, but he still believes they can turn the deficit around at Camp Nou next Wednesday.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: “I don’t want to make excuses.

“It was a long trip, that is true, but this is the semi-finals of the Champions League and the desire to reach the final should be important enough.

“It’s okay, though, this happens. We started with a goal but we didn’t play enough football in the first half.

“We didn’t move the ball with passion. We played against a good team under difficult circumstances, but there is one game left and we are going to try.

“We are going to try. In Barcelona will have one chance. We will try and attack and we will put water on the field, we want the ball to move quicker.

“We are going to try and we should see a good game.”