Van Gaal praise for the defence

Coach Louis Van Gaal wasted little time in praising his under-fire goalscorer Frank de Boer after FC Barcelona's 1-0 Group H victory over FC Lokomotiv Moskva at Camp Nou.

Foundations of victory
The victory sends the Catalan club through to the UEFA Champions League second group stage and, according to Van Gaal, De Boer and Carlos Puyol were the foundations upon which eventual victory was built.

De Boer 'incredible'
"It is incredible that Frank could score a goal and play with the concentration he did in this situation," he said. "He is a player for Barcelona and yet the fans boo him, I simply do not understand it and this has become a difficult time for Frank.

'Puyol is an example'
"It is unfair for him to have to shoulder so much pressure. In my opinion, Puyol is an example of the contrary and one that needs to be understood. The same fans applauded his every move and for that reason he achieves more and more.
 
'All players need appreciation'
Van Gaal continued: "This shows that all players need appreciation from the fans and that they can excel when that happens. So for Frank to score the winning goal makes me very, very happy for him and, also, for the fans."

Winning goal
De Boer himself, having climbed above Vladimir Maminov in the 76th minute to head the winning goal from Juan Riquelme's free-kick, was much more laconic. "The free-kick from Riquelme was perfect for me. I have played about 700 games for Louis van Gaal so I'm used to this line of defence with three men and happy with it no matter the critics.

'We were lucky'
"If we had lost it would have been complicated for us and, in truth, I think we were lucky because Puyol had a great match and he was perfect in saving [James] Obiorah’s shot on the open goal."

Frustration for Semin
Understandably, it was that 65th-minute moment when Obiorah failed to score which most frustrated Lokomotiv coach Yuri Semin. "Our team played well and we were even better in the second half than in the first. We had two or three very good chances and we lost but I think those chances show that we could have won.

Obiorah disappointed
"Obiorah played very well but should have put his chances away and he is very, very disappointed in himself. But Barcelona have great players and they now have twelve points out of twelve so that shows the quality of their team. I'm particularly disappointed because if results had gone our way tonight we could now be fighting for second place in the group. But things look bad and I do not know what will happen."

Puyol's final word
When questioned about his moment of defensive brilliance, Puyol concluded: "It was important not to concede. Then I really loved Frank scoring because the pressure was on him so much. He's playing well I think but I don't know what the crowd thinks. If they don’t agree the whole team should be booed, not just one individual. The important thing is to have won."