FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard is delighted by the spirit and work rate that his Barca players had shown against Villareal. Barca boss Rijkaard believes that the victory over Villareal brang FC Barcelona very close to defend the Spanish Primera Liga Championship title and win La Liga a second consecutive time.


Manager Rijkaard praised the ambition of his Barca team and was quick to publicly congratulate his players to the win on Good Friday over Villareal:

I congratulate the players. It was a very important match that we wanted to win right from the very first minute. A number of players hadn´t played a full 90 minutes and I congratulate them because they have worked very hard to get this important win. I have a lot of respect for Maxi. He's been waiting a long time for his chance and he worked really hard. The team started fairly well, creating chances... then the changes affected the development of the game and our game plan.

Barca coach Rijkaard thought that Villareal was a worthy oppononent and also had words of praise for the opponents and their coach Manuel Pellegrini:

Villarreal are having a great season and I think they have a chance of winning their European tie. Pellegrini is doing a good job and is one of the most outstanding coaches in our league.

Frank Rijkaard´s resummee of the match against Villareal was as following:

Three important points for the league title. Now we can think about Milan.