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No special welcome for returning hero Guardiola: Barcelona president

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Josep Maria Bartomeu

Madrid: Spanish football club FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu says the club has nothing special organised for what will be an emotional return for former coach Pep Guardiola to the Camp Nou Stadium during the team’s Champions League semi-final first leg tie against German side Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

Guardiola will be in the spotlight when he leads his Bayern Munich side out at what was his home as a player and for four hugely successful seasons as coach during which he won an incredible 14 trophies, reports Xinhua.

But with a Champions League semi-final to follow, Bartomeu is planning nothing special for the much loved coach.

“We have to respect Pep, but I think that it should be spontaneous and we are not going to organise anything for the occasion. There will not be any video or anything, but I am certain at the end of the game we will greet each other,” Bartomeu said on Monday.

Guardiola had a strained relationship with Bartomeu during his last days at the club but insisted there were no problems in their relationship.

“He decided to leave and there is no issue. He knows the doors of the club are open when he wants and I think he will return one day,” he said.

However, that ‘one day’ will not be in the immediate future as Bartomeu used the interview to show his confidence in current coach Luis Enrique, who has so far been evasive over whether or not he will be at the club next season.

“Bit by bit we are building a squad and a good group of players,” he said.

“There is no great mystery over whether or not he continues, he is focused on the first team and he will have time to prepare for next season. He (Luis Enrique) has a contract with Barcelona at the moment and he gets asked a lot about the future, but what he wants to do is focus on the job he has to do,” he explained.

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Sunil Gavaskar gives his opinion of GT allrounder Rahul Tewatia

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The left-handed batsman from Haryana is garnering praise from all quarters for the way he’s finishing games regularly in the most exciting IPL season.

Gavaskar reckons Tewatia’s whirlwind knock in Sharjah (in IPL 2020) where he smashed West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over, gave him the confidence that he belongs to the big stage.

Speaking on Cricket Live on Star Sports, Gavaskar said, “That assault on Sheldon Cottrell in Sharjah gave him the belief to do the impossible and the confidence that he belongs here. We saw the impossible (he did with the bat) the other day as well. There’s no twitching or touching the pads (which shows a batter’s nervousness) when he bats in the death overs. He just waits for the ball to be delivered and plays his shots. He’s got all the shots in the book, but most importantly his temperament to stay cool in a crisis is brilliant.”

Gavaskar has also nicknamed the 28-year-old cricketer the ‘ice-man’ and lauded Tewatia’s ability to remain unruffled during the tense moments.

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