FCBARCELONA.CAT

20.05.2007 23:56

“A perfect result”

Vanessa Forns

Frank Rijkaard was very satisfied with his team’s performance at the Vicente Calderon after an emphatic 0-6 triumph over Athletico Madrid. “It was a perfect result for us”, said the Dutch coach.

According to the coach this result is very encouraging ahead of the final few games in the league season. “This result gives us hope. We’ve shown we are capable of playing a good game against a team that normally do well against us. The chose to play on the counter attack early on and they were dangerous. But after the first goal they were forced to open up a bit more and leave more spaces. We exploited that very well and scored some great goals”.

Individual brilliance made the difference

Continuing his analysis of the match, Rikjaard insisted that the first goal changed everything. “After Messi’s first goal Athletico Madrid had to open up and that was when the individual class in our team made the difference”. Rikjaard said that in the second half he thought Barça could have scored even more goals. He also congratulated his players and encouraged then to continue along the same lines until the end of the season.

“There is more than one favourite”

Finally, Frank Rijkaard did not wish to analyse the current league situation with just three weeks to go in the league season. “I’m confident we can win the three games we have left. As regards the rest we’ll have to wait and see. With three weeks remaining there is more than just one favourite. We all have to cope with the pressure because it’s not easy and any team is capable of springing a surprise”.