Champions League: Barcelona delighted with supersub Messi

Spanish giants through to semis; Bayern progress.

BARCELONA:

Barcelona assistant manager Jordi Roura hailed Lionel Messi after the World Player of the Year helped guide the Spanish giants past Paris Saint-Germain and into the semi-finals of the Champions League.

The Spanish league leaders were heading out of the competition as they trailed 1-0 on the night, and 3-2 on aggregate, when Messi was introduced as a second-half substitute having started on the bench to protect a hamstring injury.

And the Argentine made a decisive impact as he was involved in the move that led to Pedro Rodriguez’s equaliser which took the Catalans through on away goals.

“It was a pact that we had with him that if things weren’t going well, we would bring him on,” said Roura. “He is so important and his presence on the field conditioned the game.

“Once again he has shown his competitive spirit and desperation to always be there for the team and we have to take our hats off to him.”

PSG controlled the vast majority of the first period and had chances to kill the game off when leading and Roura accepted Barca need to improve before the semi-final first-leg in two weeks’ time.

“Once again the team has shown its courage. Obviously there are things we can improve on, but first we have to enjoy reaching the semi-finals.”

PSG boss Carlo Ancelotti also praised his players for their impressive display.

“We did everything we could to win,” he said. “It was a marvellous night, but it would have been fantastic to get to the semi-finals.”

However, Ancelotti believes by taking Barca so close over the two legs they have proved they will be a force to be reckoned with in the next few years.

“This game will be useful for us for the next seasons. We lacked a little bit of experience and some of our players were discovering the competition for the first time.

“Some poeple would say we didn’t deserve to lose and so the experience was really good for us. I am sure we will be better in the coming years.”

Juventus coach calls to get house in order

Meanwhile, Juventus coach Antonio Conte has called on Italian football to get its house in order or risk becoming a lost giant of European football, following their quarter-final exit to Bayern Munich.

Juve were outclassed during a 2-0 first-leg defeat to the newly-crowned German champions last week in Munich and despite a far better performance in Turin the hosts fell to another 2-0 reverse.

Conte said there was a huge gap between his side and big-spending Bayern.

“Given that two years ago we weren’t even in the Europa League I have to congratulate my players for getting this far,” said Conte. “But it was a good opportunity to see where we are compared to the big boys in Europe. If you have the money, you can buy [players] and win.

“The way things are right now, I don’t see any Italian teams winning the Champions League for the next several years.”

On the other hand, Bayern manager Jupp Heynckes paid tribute to his side’s poise on their way to an improved second-half display.

“We’ve made the semi-finals but we were up against a really strong Juve side and the conditions for a great second-leg were all there,” said Heynckes. “Juve put us under a lot of pressure in the opening half but in the second we came back into it and steadily imposed our own game.”

Published in The Express Tribune, April 12^th, 2013.