Rijkaard contrite after Barça draw

Frank Rijkaard conceded that second-from-bottom Real Valladolid CF were "a very strong side on their own turf" after FC Barcelona were held to a 1-1 draw at the Estadio Municipal José Zorrilla on Thursday night.

Smart equaliser
Barça lost ground on Primera División leaders Real Madrid CF as struggling Valladolid made life uncomfortable for them. Joseba Llorente put Los Pucelanos into the lead with a 16th-minute strike but Ronaldinho finished smartly just before half-time to secure a share of the points for Rijkaard's team. The result leaves Barça second in the table, level with Villarreal CF on 21 points but four points adrift of Madrid.

Coach disappointed
"Out on the pitch you can't say anything about quality if you don't work as hard as your opponents," said the Dutch coach. "When you say that [defender Gabriel] Milito and [goalkeeper] Víctor Valdés were our best players that says it all. Valladolid demonstrated that they are a very strong side on their own turf. In the second half they worked better as a team than we did." RCD Espanyol drew 0-0 against Real Murcia CF in the night's other game.