A desperate Frank Rijkaard storms El Madrigal in search of first victory against Villarreal.


Speaking in his pre-match press conference, the Dutchman admits the yellow submarines were the better side before, but things will definitely change this time around. Although Barca have lost in two successive encounters in Villarreal's home ground, the Catalan giants defeated the hosts right in their home ground in the 2005/06 season. Frank Rijkaard wants to lead Barca to repeat this feat, as that time, the man on the bench was Hen Ten Cate after Rijkaard was sidelined himself due to an illness on that day. Now the Barca helmsman wants to prove all his critics wrong that he can secure victory for Barca when he's on the bench at the El Madrigal. Rijkaard demonstrates clear knowledge of the Villarreal side:

They were better in the last league game. They came out very strongly and scored early on. We were unable to turn things around and Villarreal justifiably won. They are a team that can wait for to play in their half before launching counter-attacks or can come out and attack you from the first minute. We know what to expect and we will have to go out and start strongly ourselves.

Read the full interview below:


FC Barcelona's Rijkaard: Villarreal Were Better In The Last Game.

Still focussed on the title, Barca players are more determined than ever.


FC Barcelona players spoke in the post match press conference after sealing off a brilliant weekend at Camp Nou with victory in the last match. Bojan, Iniesta, Deco and Sylvinho had things to say:


Bojan:

I think the most important thing is to win and stay alive in the three competitions. We’re in a situation where the result is more important. We must be patient. We’ll soon start playing well. Madrid could have dropped some points today but the most important thing was for us to win. Villarreal are difficult on their own ground. We’ll try and get a good result in the first leg.

Iniesta:

Three more points. We tried to score a second goal but it wasn’t to be.mRacing deserve to be where they are in the table. They like to play the ball around and they’re difficult to break down. I want to play. Obviously, the further up field I play, the more comfortable I feel. But if I’m in the chosen eleven, I’m happy. We can’t be saying where Madrid will slip up. We’re in this situation because we dropped points. Now we have to win our matches and wait for them to lose. I hope that the experience of the league match we played in Villarreal will help us in the Cup.

Deco

The result was the best thing in the match. Racing played well on the counterattack and made it difficult for us to create because they defended very well. Madrid are doing well but we have to focus on winning our matches. It’s good that we’re gradually recovering our injured players.

Sylvinho :

We found it hard to break down the Racing defence but we finally got three important points. It was a good match for the coaches. It was a very tactical match. They set out to control the game tactically and it was hard for us to create chances. Henry needs time to recover fully but now you can see that he’s very strong and he’s contributing a lot. Messi is a player that makes a difference. The team feels it when he’s got the ball. He brings quality and makes the team play better. Villarreal are difficult opponents. It’ll be an evenly balanced tie but we have the slight advantage of playing the second leg at home. Pinto works very hard. He brings a lot to the team both as a professional and as a person. I wish him luck at Barça.

Barca's Frank Rijkaard is always ready to take on tasks, and the match tonight against Racing Santander is no exception.


The Dutchman was eager to field questions from the press, warning that the Catalan giants were well focused and not taking their opponents, Racing Santander for granted. Rijkaard said of the visiting Santander squad:

It’s not surprising that they are doing so well. They are well-organised and work as a team. We have to take the game seriously.

Coach Frank also demonstrated awareness of the gap at the top with Real Madrid, and was very confident FC Barcelona will catch up and meet expectations this year. Read Frank Rijkaard's pre-match comments:


FC Barcelona - Racing Santander: Coach Rijkaard's Pre-Match Comments.

Frank Rijkaard was happy that Barca picked a ticket to the quarter final stage of the Copa del Rey. The manager spoke to the press afterwards.



A team that knocks out the defending champions should deserve to be the new champions themselves. FC barcelona must strive on to win the Copa del Rey after edging out last year's champions, Sevilla CF. The Blaugrana secured a 1-1 draw in the first leg and a goalless draw in Camp Nou meant they go through on away goal rule. A pleased Frank Rijkaard who got his tactics dead right on the night, was happy iwht the result. The stars played to instruction and had a very organized defence with Milito, Puyol, Sylvinho and Zambrotta being intact and Marquez providing cover. Rijkaard said after the match:

I was very pleased, particularly in defence where the team was very focussed and gave everything. Before the game we said that the worst thing would be to concede a goal and we have played the game accordingly. We wanted to concentrate on Sevilla's strong points without giving up our own style. It was not that attractive, but that was not just us as Sevilla had a very tactical approach. They were strong and kept a lot of people back. It was important for us to progress to the next round and we have done that against a great team.

Barça face Villarreal or Recreativo in the next round of the Copa del Rey. Rijkaard is not bouyed by the prospects of facing either, and is ready for the quarter opponents. The Dutchman is instead more concerned with securing a ticket to the semi-final through good football:

Villarreal is more well known and appear strong, but in knockout tournaments the only thing it worry about is playing well yourselves.

Quite certain of the scoring potentials of FC Barcelona, Sevilla head coach, Maonolo Jimenez takes the safer road.


The coach was saddled with the issue of securing the ticket for the Cop defending champions to advance to the next stage of the championship. Jimenez was quite honest in his reaction, dismissing his tactics of attacking football and prefering to settle for an all-out defensive style of play. With rampaging strikers like Thierry Henry and Bojan Krkic, the Sevilla helmsman knows he'll have more than a full time job. The solution as Manolo sees it is to pack his defence:

We know what Barca are capable of and the quality of players they have. We are going to have to be very clever at the back. We have to then take advantage of the chances that we can create, because I know we are capable of making a few. Hopefully, we can get a goal and won't allow Barca to score. Letting them score even just one goal is same as handing the ticket to them.

Reminded that hsi team fell just few days back in the La Liga, Jimenez says:

Atletico played bad tactics against us. But we have learned from that defeat. We have to recover from the defeat as it was a big blow because we should not have allowed a team like Athletic to win as they were not technically as good as us.