Motta awed by Barcelona task

According to midfielder Thiago Motta, FC Barcelona's winner-takes-all confrontation with Werder Bremen next Tuesday is a huge occasion. "It's bigger than a final," he says simply.

Tight situation
The UEFA Champions League holders put themselves firmly back in contention for a qualifying berth in Group A with a 2-0 victory at PFC Levski Sofia last Wednesday. It leaves them two points behind Bremen who raised their total to ten points with a 1-0 home win against Chelsea FC. José Mourinho's team also have ten points but are sure of their place in the knockout rounds because of their head-to-head record against the German club.

'More important'
It would be a huge blow if Barcelona were to bow out in front of their own fans on Matchday 6 and Motta said they were all determined to take the last step. "This game is more important than a final and we have to carry on playing like we did [against Levski]," he said. "We have a lot of players who didn't play like Samuel Eto'o and Lionel Messi because of injury and the players who have come in are working hard to make sure they are not missed."

Giuly goal
It was not one of Barcelona's most fluent performances but the three points were everything and an early goal by Ludovic Giuly put the champions on their way to a first win in four games in the competition. That was a vital moment according to the Frenchman. "It was good for me and good for the team," Giuly said. "We scored after five minutes and that is unusual for us because we have become used to starting poorly. Levski really wanted to win and that made it difficult for us because they played well."

Second finish
A second-half strike by Andrés Iniesta, pouncing after Deco had seen a drive parried by Georgi Petkov, made it 2-0 which was hard on the Bulgarian champions who had taken the game to their illustrious opponents at every opportunity and engineered a number of promising openings.

'Good spirit'
Levski's veteran midfielder Daniel Borimirov said: "It is very hard to play against the European champions. We made a mistake early in the game and were punished immediately but we showed some good spirit and tried to come back into the game." Their debut group stage campaign has been a steep learning curve for Levski with five defeats in five games but they are proud of their efforts and believe the experience they have gained will stand them in good stead should they repeat their qualifying success next season.