Puyol expected more from United April 29 2008
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol admits he was "very disappointed" with Manchester United's defensive approach in the UEFA Champions League semi-final, first-leg clash at the Nou Camp.
But for the third-minute penalty miss by Cristiano Ronaldo, United rarely looked like an attacking threat and their defence held firm as they recorded a goalless draw in Catalunya last Wednesday night.
Barca know they need to score to progress to the final in Moscow and Puyol, who was suspended for the first leg in Spain, insists his side are not about to adopt the same tactics at Old Trafford on Tuesday night as it would only result in failure for the Catalans.
The Spanish defender was surprised by the defensive tactics employed by Sir Alex Ferguson given the attacking array of talent at his disposal in Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez.
And Puyol has promised that Frank Rijkaard's team 'will attack as they always do' as they bid for the last and only piece of silverware available to them this season.
"Sincerely I was very disappointed with Manchester United's attitude in Barcelona," Puyol told the Daily Star. "They played without any type of risk and obviously came for a 0-0 draw.
"With a team full of players like (Cristiano) Ronaldo, (Wayne) Rooney and (Carlos) Tevez we expected so much more, but maybe it was us who kept them quiet."
He added: "We have not travelled to Manchester with defensive ideas. We will not play like they did because we need to score.
"To play defensively for us would be a huge failure at Old Trafford. We will attack as we always do and players like Lionel Messi, Deco and Thierry Henry have all had time to rest in the last few days.
Rijkaard has echoed his skipper's thoughts and believes the key to beating the Red Devils in the return leg is by keeping possession and playing their own attacking brand of football.
"We need to get a positive result," said the Dutchman. "We need to score a goal to make sure we go through.
"We have got to impose our own style of play, get hold of the ball, pass it around, keep possession and maybe not get involved in United's style of play too much.
"We need to fight hard to gain our objective which is to reach the final. You've got to believe in yourself, fight hard, work hard, show our quality out on the field. That will give us a good chance."