24.02.2009 23:43
www.fcbarcelona.cat
The Cameroonian striker was one of several Barça players to say after the game that their biggest mistake had been to allow Olympique Lyon to dictate too much of the play.
Samuel Eto'o, who played the 90 minutes, was happy enough with the result. “The mistake we
made was to let Lyon play, and we can’t afford to do that” he said. “Barça is the
only team that can lose three games and still be ahead … the most important thing is the way
we feel”.
The following are some of the things said by the Barça players after tonight’s game.
Eto'o
“We can draw games sometimes.”
“We will fight to the end and go out to win every game with total humility.”
“I hope we play to our best level in the return match, like we did here in the second
half.”
Henry:
“It was a very difficult game. They could have done us
a lot of damage”.
“They had an incredible first half. But we produced our best football in the second”.
“A draw is not a bad result”.
“Olympique Lyon have shown what a good side they are”.
“Lyon came out to play a strong game.”
“After seeing Juninho’s goal, the only thing you can do is applaud.”
Messi:
“The best thing about this game was the result.”
“We knew that Lyon is, in principle, a strong side.”
“Luckily we found a reaction in the second half and we played like we usually do, that made things easier”.
“Today wasn’t my best day, but these things happen”.
“In the first half, I don’t think the opposition allowed us to play the way we
like.”
Touré:
“We are happy, but the return match won’t be an easy one.”
“Both the game with Espanyol and the one with Lyon were very difficult.”
Piqué:
“I think the result is a very positive one.”
“They started to play in an awkward way for us, and a lot of their players were managing to break through.”
“In the second half we kept it tighter and that stopped them from getting so much out of counter attacks.”
“The result brings us confidence, it was a positive result.”
“The loss to Espanyol was a nasty one. But at least not all results are negative.”
“When we gave away the ball, they counter attacked really quickly.”
“This kind of draw is a good result and now we just have to finish off the job at home”.
Abidal travelled to Lyon to watch Barça face his former club Olympique Lyon. Before kick off, he
passed by the hotel to greet the players, but before the match, he also made a point of saying
hello to his former French team mates.
Bojan and Cáceres, neither of whom actually played, were the players selected to take the
UEFA doping test, which, of course, they passed.
The team has a day off on Wednesday, but will get back to work on Thursday with a training session scheduled for 11.00. Valdés will give a press conference after the match.