Rijkaard relief as Barça find rhythm

FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard felt a "great first-half performance" underpinned a professional display as the holders defeated Werder Bremen to vanquish the German side's hopes of causing a huge UEFA Champions League shock. The Dutchman's opposite number, however, was left with nothing but regrets as uefa.com hears from the coaches at Camp Nou.

Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona coach 
I'm happy because we had to make a difference tonight and we saw a great first-half performance. The effort the team made was immense so I congratulate my players for their work. This result, and qualification, brings a calmness to the squad. Bremen are a very strong team and have good quality players which meant we had to keep a hold on the match after the two goals. That's normal in the Champions League - there are never any easy games. We took our chances and that proved to be very important in the second half.

Thomas Schaaf, Bremen coach 
We didn't find the rhythm in the first half and things didn't go to plan. They found their rhythm quickly but we improved after the break, found our rhythm and it showed. The first Barcelona goal was our mistake and made the difference. We then made another and from then on the match became very tough for us. In the second half we had several chances and played like we know how to but didn't make the most of the chances.