Rexach keeps his feet on the ground

FC Barcelona coach Carles Rexach warned against an excess of optimism after his side's thrilling UEFA Champions League defeat of Panathinaikos FC.

Hopes take flight
On a night where the Camp Nou pitch was invaded by a pheasant, Barcelona's Champions League hopes took flight with this memorable come-from-behind success. Trailing 1-0 on the night and 2-0 on aggregate, a Luis Enrique double and Javier Saviola strike turned the game in the Catalans' favour.

Rexach injects some reality
While the anything-is-possible adventure of a side which, following Patrick Kluivert's 44th-minute introduction, featured five attacking players recalled the heady days of Johan Cruyff's 1990s 'dream team', Rexach - whose side have frustrated the Camp Nou faithful all season with their inconsistency - was keen to inject some reality into the post-match proceedings. "The problem now is that people will think the team is great, that we can do anything but that's not true," he said.

'We suffered a lot'
Rexach admitted "we suffered a lot" as he looked back on a closing period where Panathinakos very nearly stole the second away goal they needed. Emmanuel Olisadebe, Sotirious Kyrgiakos and Michael Konstantinou all went close as Barça hung on at 3-1.

'Excellent 30 minutes'
Yet Rexach added: "We had an excellent 30 minutes in the second half, the crowd was fantastic. But the last 15 minutes were difficult. Only when we were 3-1 up did they start pushing and we had to defend but we didn't have the right players to do that. After all we did it would have been unfortunate to concede one last goal."

'I'd prefer Bayern'
The coach's caution is not without reason. Barcelona produced a similarly thrilling comeback to defeat Chelsea FC in the 2000 quarter-finals, only to come unstuck in an all-Spanish semi-final against Valencia CF. Hence his preference for a meeting with FC Bayern München, rather than arch-rivals Real Madrid CF, in the last four this time round. "I'd prefer Bayern München in the semis," he said. "I don't mean I want Madrid to lose, I say this because Madrid score more goals. Bayern's game suits our game better."

Consolation for Markarian
For Rexach's counterpart, Sergio Markarian, there was the consolation of seeing his side trade blows so impressively with Barcelona. "We had three or four good chances to win but congratulations to Barcelona - I wish them the best for the semi-finals," he said. "We nearly made it but we had to be satisfied at getting a great European team up against the ropes."

Defensive mistakes
Markarian was critical of his team's defending, saying, "We made defensive mistakes which gave Barcelona three goals". Luis Enrique's second will have proved particularly galling as he was allowed to leap unchallenged to head Barcelona 2-1 ahead shortly after the break.

Olisadebe threat
Panathinaikos, who took an eight-minute lead through Konstaninou, certainly pushed Barcelona all the way and in second-half substitute Olisadebe, had a player with the pace to frighten the Catalans' backline. Olisadebe almost set up a second for Konstantinou when he forced a panicked challenge from Barcelona goalkeeper Roberto Bonano and, with the goalkeeper stranded, Carlos Puyol cleared Konstantinou's effort off the line.

Sympathy for Panathinaikos
Bonano's challenge resulted in him leaving the pitch wearing a neck brace, but Markarian had little sympathy. "My son called me to say there was contact in the area between Bonano and Olisadebe," he said. There should be some sympathy for Panathinaikos, however, who pushed Barcelona all the way - in a manner that lends weight to Rexach's call to the Camp Nou fans not to get too carried away just yet.