FCBARCELONA.CAT

12.04.2008 23:59

Rijkaard bemoans bad luck

Vanessa Forns

After the two all draw at Nuevo Colombino, Frank Rijkaard bemoaned his team’s bad luck as they tried to close out the game when they were still 2-1 ahead.

The Barça coach thinks that if they had had a bit more luck, the first team might have come back to Barcelona with all three points: “After being ahead 1-2 we had chances to kill off the game, but they also kept on fighting and in the end they equalised. It’s a pity because with a bit more luck we could be going back to Barcelona with a better result. It feels like we’ve let two points get away.”

Ability to react

Frank Rijkaard spoke about his players’ ability to react as they were able to forge ahead once more after Recreativo had equalised to make it 1-1. However, he admitted that the team had failed to close out the game: “This team is always battling. At 1-1 we reacted and we scored again, but then we didn’t close the game out at key times. These things can happen.” In Rijkaard’s view, “If we’d been a bit luckier we’d have won, but that’s football.”

Self-criticism

The Barça coach said that the game had been “very physical” and difficult with two teams who’d gone out looking for a win. “We fought hard but we didn’t do the job in the end.” Frank Rijkaard also said that Recreativo’s second goal was due to “poor marking” and that “if you score twice away from home you really ought to get more out of a game.”

The return of Messi

Lionel Messi returned to action this Saturday after five weeks on the sidelines. “It’s his first game back after injury and he’s worked hard to get ready to play again. We hope he’ll get up to speed soon and get back to performing like he can,” said Rijkaard.

When asked about FC Barcelona’s chances of winning the League, Frank Rijkaard pointed out that “mathematically it’s still possible but if we want to be in with a chance we have to pick up more points”.