Delight for victorious Van Gaal

FC Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal was delighted with his side's dominant performance after a 2-1 home victory over RC Lens in their opening UEFA Champions League Group H encounter.

Expert display
A half-full Camp Nou witnessed an expert display from the hosts, as they overran their Belgian visitors to take a commanding 3-1 lead before Gaëtan Englebert's late goal made for an interesting finale. "I'm very happy with the result. We played well," said Van Gaal. "We dominated and created many chances and the public have enjoyed the game."

'Too much respect'
Brugge coach Trond Sollied offered a frank assessment of his side's performance after the final whistle, having seen them outclassed for much of the 90 minutes. "Brugge lost to a better team, we saw that Barcelona are a class higher in a technical sense," he said. "Maybe we showed too much respect, we gave easy goals away and we were too passive. We didn't have enough gas to put Barcelona under pressure, even when it was 3-2."

'Barcelona were superior'
Barcelona dominated the game until the closing stages, but failed to turn their possession into clear-cut chances and could have paid dearly at the death. However, Van Gaal was in upbeat mood, saying: "I think we have to talk about the first 75 minutes when Barcelona were superior".
 
'Couldn't have started better'
The hosts were motivated by an early strike from their inspirational and indefatigable captain Luis Enrique, whose opportunism when the ball fell kindly allowed them to settle down. "We gave a good account of ourselves because we couldn't have started better," said striker Javier Saviola, scorer of a third goal whose individual brilliance in beating off four defenders raised the roof.

'Goal was beautiful'
"We have to keep the ball and not lose control during matches. I think my goal was beautiful. To score in the Champions League makes you feel better," the diminutive Argentinian added.

First for Mendieta
Gaizka Mendieta, Barça's Spanish international midfield player, added their second with a stunning 20-metre free-kick and was happy with his night's work. "The wall was too close so I gambled on the fact that the goalkeeper wouldn't see the ball coming," Mendieta said of his first Camp Nou goal.

'We can learn a lot'
Sollied was philosophical in defeat, as his side emerged without a point from their first appearance in the competition's group stages since 1992/93. "After our second goal, they got nervous and we could have equalised," he said. "But I think we must be satisfied with scoring two goals at the Camp Nou. The result is okay for a first game, especially against such a big club. We can learn a lot from this game."