Shakhtar Donetsk needed a Lionel Messi, Coach Mircea Lucescu – UEFA Champions League news
Shakhtar Donetsk coach, Mircea Lucescu, believes his side could have beaten Barcelona if Lionel Messi was playing for them.
Spanish giants Barcelona recorded an emphatic 6-1 aggregate win over Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final. After their convincing 5-1 victory at the Nou Camp, Barcelona beat Shakhtar Donetsk 1-0 in the second leg at
the Donbass Arena to progress to the semi-finals of the competition.
The Ballon d'Or winner, Messi, scored the solitary goal of the game to ensure a possible semi-final clash against bitter rivals Real Madrid. The Argentine is in sensational form for the Catalan club, scoring 48 goals in all competitions so far in the ongoing
2010/11 season.
Lucescu believes Messi’s influence on the tie was massive and if his side had a talented player like him, they could have beaten Barcelona.
He said, “We had five scoring chances tonight, and we should have finished our attacks better in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lionel-Messi-c22296. If he played for us, I'm sure we would have beaten Barcelona."
Shakhtar Donetsk boss further added that his team can come out of the tie with their head held high as despite injuries to key players they played some attacking football and forced the Catalan club to defend.
He added, "Tonight we fought for our honour, hoping for a performance we could be proud of. And the game was spectacular, worthy of a Champions League quarter-final. In spite of our injury problems we created many opportunities. Shakhtar forced Barcelona
to defend - I don't think many can claim that.”
Barcelona coach, Josep Guardiola, praised his side for their professional approach to the game and admitted that it took his side some time to find their feet against Shakhtar Donetsk. He further stated that once Barcelona got going, they dominated their
Ukrainian opponents.
Many pundits believe that Barcelona are the one of the best sides in the world; the Catalan club are in contention to land three trophies to the Nou Camp at the end of the current campaign. If Tottenham Hotspur fail beat Real Madrid by a five goal margin
tonight – an almost impossible task to say the least – in the Champions League quarter-final (second leg), it will be a mouth-watering clash between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the semi-final.
Tags: