Players Quotes on the Barca Semi final Win
Before...
Pegguy Arphexad
I think both teams have a 50-50 chance of going through tonight. It's going to be a very
difficult game because Barcelona have a team full of excellent players and they are very
experienced in European competition.
Robbie Fowler
We said when the draw was made that we felt we had enough quality to go through. That's
still the case, but we haven't forgotten what a very good side Barcelona are. Really, I'd
settle for us scraping through tonight. I don't care what the score is as long as we get
to the final.
Philip Cocu
I'm expecting Liverpool to play a different game from the one they played at the Nou Camp
two weeks ago. I believe they’ll want to score at home - they didn't even try in
Barcelona. They might try to put pressure on us but we’re prepared for everything
Micheal Reiziger
I reckon however many they score tonight, we can score one more.
After...
Vladimir Smicer
It was tough against Barcelona last night, but I believe we deserved to go through. We
played particularly well in the first half when we created a few chances, and we scored
our penalty at the right time.
Sander Westerweld
I don't know what happened. Maybe the ball bobbled a bit, but whatever happened I
miss-kicked totally and then I saw the ball heading towards the goal-line. I knew I would
never be able to get to it, but thankfully it rolled wide of the post
I think it is an unbelievable achievement to be playing in three finals this year.
Marc Overmars
We got back to Barcelona late last night and we're still extremely disappointed. It was a
big blow to lose this semi-final against Liverpool. I have to say, though, that Liverpool
were superb and probably deserved to win it. I was particularly impressed by their
defensive play – it is no mean feat to keep two clean sheets against us.
Micheal Rieziger
Nobody blames Patrick for the handball. We were just incredibly unlucky. That’s not
to take anything away from Liverpool. They were extremely well organised and once they
scored they were even more difficult to break down.
Frank De Boer
Of course, Patrick Kluivert's handball was the turning point of the game. It wasn’t
clever but it can always happen. I was standing right behind him so I saw it happen. I
wanted to head it away but unfortunately he touched it with his hand. As soon as it
happened, I knew what the outcome would be.
I thought overall we were the better team but the better team doesn’t always win.
Liverpool defended very well against on us two occasions so you must compliment them but
it is our fault and no one else’s that we failed to score in both games against them.
Llorenc Serra Ferrer, Barcelona Coach
Liverpool made it hard for us. They defended well in both ties and in the second half of
this game broke up the play. We had to play a lot of long balls into the penalty area
which we are not used to.