The football that FC Barcelona played in beating FC Bayern München 4-0 in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg was dashing and cavalier but the reaction of the majority of Josep Guardiola's players after the match was much more conservative.
Nothing settled
Both Lionel Messi, author of two terrific goals in a stunning first half, and Andrés Iniesta, Barcelona's most influential player without a goal on the night, agreed that even after inflicting Bayern's joint-heaviest margin of defeat in Europe, the job was barely half done. Man of the Match Messi told uefa.com: "We went out with the intention of settling this match as quickly and efficiently as possible, and I think we patently achieved that. Our tactic was to play with a high tempo, to pressurise Bayern all the time and to score enough goals to take full advantage of the first leg being at home. But we didn't need the coach to put our feet on the ground again at the end because we all know that a game in Germany against a club like Bayern, who have top-level players, will be difficult. In our minds nothing is settled."
European crown
The goals Messi stroked past Bayern keeper Hans Jörg Butt could easily have been added to had Butt not produced an excellent save from Barça's No10 early in the second half – and had team-mate Seydou Keita not accidentally blocked a goal-bound shot from the Argentinian in added time. The striker was keen to turn the spotlight away from a display which left him leading scorer in the competition on eight goals and focus it on his colleagues. "I think from one to eleven, each of our players put in an excellent performance against Bayern – as a team we played to our true potential. But to be considered the best team in Europe, it's not about playing like this, it is about winning the Champions League and regaining the Spanish title. That's something we can only achieve by taking things calmly and a game at a time."
Difficult return
Iniesta added weight to the idea that Barça's players already had in mind the difficulty of visiting Bayern's Fußball Arena München when they produced such passion and enthusiasm on home soil. "We enjoyed it because it was a terrific performance," said the midfielder. "We were very conscious how difficult the second leg could be in Germany so we went out full of pride and hunger, and imposed ourselves. As a midfielder I must say I have three of the best footballers in the world in front of me, and while Leo [Messi] deserved a hat-trick, the fact he didn't get one does not remove any credit from a great display. It's okay to say we have one foot in the semi-final but to actually play in it, you need to get both feet there."
(From Website : http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=818266.html)
