FCBARCELONA.CAT

31.01.2008 23:59

Rijkaard: "We deserved to win"

Vanessa Forns

Frank Rijkaard was delighted with Barcelona's qualification for the semi final of the Copa del Rey and had no doubt that over the course of the second leg encounter against Villarreal his side deserved to win.

Thierry Henry scored the only goal of the game as the Blaugrana over came the Yellow Submarine in Camp Nou on Thursday evening and won the tie for the Catalan outfit. Rijkaard was satisfied that his side had done more than enough to justify their place in the final four of the competition. "We played very well in the first half and I think that we dominated practically the whole game," he said. "We applied ourselves strongly and we have looked to go forward all the time. Looking at the 90 minutes overall, Barça dominated and we deserved to win."

Some anxiety

Despite the players all being happy with the victory, Rijkaard admitted that he detected some anxiety in the second period when the team created numerous chances to score, but were just unable to beat Diego López for a second time. "At 1-0 you know that the situation can change quickly," he explained. "the longer the games goes on the more that can become a problem. It is normal to be anxious. At the break we talked about that. Anyway, psychologically a team with ten players works a lot harder. But we deserved to win in the end."

Spectacular Messi

Rijkaard then chose his words carefully as he reflected on another outstanding performance from Lionel Messi. "He was spectacular," the coach said. "He is a unique player who, when given even just a millimetre, can create something. I hope that this wil give him an even strong desire to perform well in the forthcoming games when he can really make a difference."

Ronaldinho’s reception

In the 75th minute Ronaldinho made his return to action and he received an ovation from the home fans that will have lifted his spirits. Rijkaard was also impressed with the supporters' reaction, which he described as "stupendous" and explained that "these are the sort of things that a player needs and that will help him to continue working hard for the team."

Confident about the semi final

Finally, Rijkaard looked ahead to the possibility of drawing Getafe in the semi final of the cup and said "last year no longer matters" and insisted that "we have to look at ourselves and we believe that we can beat any team. We have the players to do that", the coach added.