FCBARCELONA.CAT

22.04.2007 23:53

Rijkaard laments the missed chances

After the 2-0 defeat at Villarreal, Frank Rikjaard lamented that fact that his team failed to convert any of the numerous scoring occasions they created, particularly in the first half when Barça were especially dominant.

“We started the game well, creating many chances but we didn’t score – while Villarreal did”, explained the Dutch coach. Rikjaard believes that the key to the match was the first goal scored by Pires in the 56th minute. “We made things difficult for ourselves when they took the lead. If you don’t take your chances you know that there is always a chance the other team will score” added the Barça coach.

Complications after the goal

Rikjaard believes that for teams like Villarreal, to go ahead in a game gives them a special strength: “The fact that they scored first gave them a huge advantage, principally as they are a well organised team in defence with a lot of mobility and they also play very well on the counter-attack”. He also added: “after the first goal everything became more complicated because Villarreal closed down the spaces. We tried to turn the result around but we failed to do it”.

Good attitude

Once again, Frank Rikjaard defended the attitude of his players: “The attitude of the players was very good but we didn’t make the difference with a goal. It’s a pity, we worked a lot but we didn’t fulfil our objective”. The Barça coach said his team was not lacking the capacity to react after conceding the first goal”.

A lot to play for

Following this defeat, Barça still maintain their lead at the top of the table, one point ahead of Sevilla and two ahead of Real Madrid. When asked about the classification Rikjaard said, “every game you fail to win is a missed opportunity but we must continue working to win games and get points. There are still important games left and we need to keep going forward”.