Pellegrini
“It’s not frustrating really; I think we put on a fantastic show at La Rosaleda, which is always so important for the fans. The team worked extremely hard and showed an immense level of strength which the fans love to see. Even moreso if we’d won! We were up against a team with an unbelievably powerful attacking display, although we really did put up a great fight throughout the game. We had another clear opportunity to score when the result was tied at 2-2, but unfortunately Barça got the glory and took the lead, which really ended the match for us. The players did very well tonight against a big rival; it was a great match.”
“We knew we’d have a very tough time in the Copa del Rey. Not just because we had Barcelona in the quarter-finals, but if we had qualified, we’d then have to defeat Real Madrid to get to the final. Tonight’s match won’t affect team morale at all, quite the opposite in fact. Our level of game play tonight was very high, and our whole approach to this match was impressive. We kept fighting until the end, but it was Barça who qualified. We’ve got little time to recover ahead of Sunday’s match against Mallorca.”
“I don’t think there was any issue from a physical point of view. We really put the pressure on Barcelona in the first half with a very tight defence, and maintained good control of the ball throughout the game. There definitely wasn’t a problem physically; it can be tough when the players are constantly trying to combat Barcelona’s pressurised attacking display. At 3-2 down, we were focused on getting two goals to get back in the game, but at no point did we have any problems physically.”
“I’m exceptionally pleased with the team’s performance in the quarter-finals. Firstly because we were faced with a major rival; and secondly in two-legged matches it’s always important to score away goals, which we did in every Champions League group stage match, as well as against Barcelona. I think it was a very tight game tonight, and if we had taken advantage of a few more opportunities to score and taken the lead, it would have made a considerable difference. Not just from the physical aspect, but we wouldn’t have focused so much on getting goals, and kept the defence as tight as possible. Generally though, although not the same as the Champions League, I think we performed very well in the quarter-finals.”
“It’s never a good thing to be knocked out of a competition. We’d have liked to have reached the semi-finals to face Real Madrid, despite being a lot more hard work in February. I think it’s always important to go as far as possible in any tournament. I’ve spoken to the players; the reason we lost tonight is because we were up against an awesome Barcelona, not a poor Málaga, and in that respect I think we performed amazingly well. We can’t claim to have been at the same performance level as Barcelona in these two Cup matches, but we really did step up to the mark against an extremely difficult rival.”