Rijkaard still eyeing top spot

Panathianikos FC forced a deserved 0-0 draw against UEFA Champions League Group C favourites FC Barcelona in the Athens Olympic Stadium. The visitors failed to create many clear-cut chances, although Samuel Eto'o was twice denied by goalkeeper Mario Galinovíc and again by defender Igor Bišćan in the closing stages. For the home side, newly-signed striker Evagelos Mantzios came closest when he fended off two defenders before shooting straight at Barcelona's Víctor Valdés in the first half.

Alberto Malesani, Panathinaikos coach: 
I was confident that we could play a great game and our performance shows me that we are on the right track. At times, my players played even better than I anticipated. I put Bišćan in because I believed he was the adequate player for the job. He is fast and we needed pacy men to keep up with Barcelona’s attack. As for [Flavio] Conceićão, I had no doubt that he could reach this level – he just needed some time to adjust. The adjustment process has been very important, because we signed lots of foreign players this summer, who changed their way of life and needed to get used to living in Greece. Our main asset today is that we played as a team, with extreme discipline in our pressing game and with passion. We need to continue this way.

Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona coach: 
It’s a pity that we haven’t been able to win here. But nothing changes. We are still first in our group. I decided to use Xavi [Hernández] as pivot in front of our defence, for the construction of play. As for why I chose [Henrik] Larsson over [Lionel] Messi for the right flank? I have more than eleven players and all of them are quite capable of playing. Larsson’s movements away from goal are very important for the attack. He was one of our best players in the first half. Tonight’s match was very complicated for us, both on the pitch and because of the ambience that the fans created. It’s very important for us that we did not concede any goals. I cannot say who are the favorites to qualify from our group. Nothing is decided yet. There are many matches left, but we work in order to qualify as first from our group.