Rafa Márquez has expressed his satisfaction with the Stamford Bridge, but added that the team is now only concentrating on the forthcoming La Liga (Spanish League) match against Real Zaragoza.

The Champions League game is over, now we just have to worry about Zaragoza, which will certainly be difficult, says Márquez, who has not forgotten how well Víctor Muñoz's side played against Barça in the Copa del Rey, knocking the Catalans out of the competition at the quarter final stage. We should also remember that they have caused us a lot of problems in recent seasons,

he adds.


Márquez admits that he and his team mates are keen to get revenge on Zaragoza "because they knocked us out of the Copa del Rey". But the brave Barça defender believes that the league game will be played differently

...because the demands of the two games are different. This weekend we will be looking for three points to help us stay comfortable at the top of the league table.

A call for calm

Going back to the Chelsea game, Márquez feels that although

... we did a good job, we have not won anything yet. We have to keep working that way to achieve something important, and at the moment things are going very well

But Marquez knows they still have the return at the Camp Nou to come and warns that

Chelsea are not dead or buried. They are a great team with great players and they will definitely be coming the Camp Nou to go for it. Barça have to go out there and stretch our lead.

The Character of Barça team


Looking at the way Wednesday's game at Stamford Bridge went, Márquez feels Barça showed "strength, character, and determination". Asked whether he thinks Barça benefited from playing against ten men after Del Horno was sent off, the Mexican player had no doubt that

we were not the poorer team before the sending off. In fact, when they were eleven, we still knew how to keep control of the ball and even created danger in their area on several occasions. But with ten men they did continue to generate danger, mainly through Drogba.

The famous Red Card


Everybody was aware of the poor state of the Stamford Bridge pitch. Márquez did not feel that was an important issue because

...it did not stop us from playing well. Barça team adapted quickly

. But the most commented incident was definitely the tackle on Messi, and the Mexican international Barça player was clear in his views on that, saying

Del Horno was not going for the ball at all, he went straight for Messi. In the move shortly before that it was already clear that that player was going in far too hard on Messi.

No response to Mourinho


Márquez did not want to get drawn into the controversy surrounding the comments made by Jose Mourinho at the end of the match at Stamford Bridge. Like his coach Frank Rijkaard, he merely commented that

we all know Mourinho,and it is best not to say anything

. Finally, in response to comments made by Real Madrid's Raúl in praise of Barça's football, and saying that they can win both the tournaments they are opting for, Márquez states that

Raúl is the kind of person who always does the right thing. He speaks very well and we should admire him for saying these things, especially coming from a winner player like him.