The players, including full back Dani Alves, have given their impressions after qualifying for the Champions League quarter finals, and they generally agreed that they fully deserved to qualify.
Next session on Wednesday
Barça get straight back to training on Wednesday behind closed doors at 11.00 am. Afterwards,
Javier Mascherano, who left the field injured but thankfully for nothing serious, will be talking
to the press.
Meanwhile, after the match, it was Thiago Alcántara and Éric Abidal who took a doping test.
The following were some of the comments made by the players:
Dani Alves:
“It’s been a very difficult tie. But in a general context, the team
that deserved it qualified”.
“We created all the play and chances”.
“I didn’t think qualification was in danger. Before the break, we had the game
under control. They wanted to defend the result. We have our philosophy and we’ll die with
it”.
“From the very start we showed that a lot can happen in 90 minutes”.
“I would have sent Van Persie off in the first half for hitting me in the face”.
Xavi:
“It was fair. We were much better both there and here.
Footballing justice”.
“They had decided to come and defend and hardly shot at goal. I expected them to come
at us more”.
“Mascherano and Busquets are great for this team”.
“Leo made the difference once again”.
“All we were missing at times was goals. And we suffered too much”.
“It was a fair result”.
“I always try to come in from behind. We had infinite chances to seal the match”.
“10 marks for the crowd. You can tell it’s the Champions League and there’s
a lot to play for”.
“We scored their goal. They had a few isolated chances but they didn’t want to
play, they wanted to defend. The sending off affected things but it was fair”.
Éric Abidal
“It was a dangerous game after losing in England. We played well. We worked
hard”.
“I hope we play Olympique Lyon in the quarter finals”.