Xavi: "1-2 would have been the fairest result"

“When they score in the last second of the match and we put in a great performance in the first half and we held them off in the second, it’s frustrating. 1-2 would have been the fairest result,” said Xavi Hernández after the match at the Parc des Princes against Paris Saint-Germain. The midfielder, who scored Barça’s second goal, was clear that the worst bit of news from the match is “Messi and Mascherano’s injuries, they are two very important players for us.” He added: “we’re having terrible luck on defence, we’re missing Puyol and Adriano, and now this.”

Despite the draw, Xavi concluded that the 2-2 draw “is a good result, there are still 90 minutes to be played at home in front of our fans, who showed that they can get behind their team.” He added: “we’re leaving with the feeling that we played a good game, now we have to win the return leg at home.”

Dani Alves:

“We have to be focused until the end, we have to keep our intensity up. They created chances out of nothing and they were capable of scoring with a little bit of luck. We knew that the tie wouldn’t be decided until the return leg, we’ll have our chances of going through”

On Mascherano and Messi: “they are two very important players, but we have to be strong enough to overcome their absences”

“We have to be intelligent in the return leg, we have to play like we always do. We want to win.”

Sergio Busquets:

“We started off with a few doubts, but as time went on we gained confidence and we took the lead, the 1-1 was scored from a clear offside position, but we can’t do anything about that. With the 1-2 we thought we had won, but we weren’t lucky”

“The referee wasn’t calm until after they had equalised. It’s impossible for the linesman to not see that Ibra’s scored in an offside position. They booked us for anything and they called too many fouls, but now we can’t do anything. We’ve lost Messi and Mascherano, that’s the most important thing. We have to win at home”

“Possession, chances and controlling Lavezzi, Ibra, Moura ... We’re going to try to win, not draw”

Andrés Iniesta:

“I saw the replay, it’s easier to have a bit more perspective after you’ve cooled down a bit. It was a shame”

“Our match and the image the team gave, that’s what I’m going home with. We just have to try and win at home, we have no other option”

“These types of plays seem easy to spot, but they are human and they make mistakes. We can talk about that or about how well we played. We’ve lost two great players”

“We all knew that the tie would be decided in the return leg and the match against Milan is the template we have to follow”