It was not to be for FC Barcelona as the second leg comeback did not quite materialise in the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, a 2-1 win against Atlético not being enough to see Barça through to the semi-finals. The blaugranes gave everything over the two legs, as coach Hansi Flick pointed out in his post match appearance before the press. "I am proud of the team and how we played. Over the two legs I think we deserved a place in the semi-finals," said the Barça boss. 

Flick proud 

Barça were just a goal away from taking the tie into extra time. "We were fantastic in the first half, but obviously we have to score more goals," added Flick, who continued to accentuate the positive: "We played really well and we had to play with 10 men. The team were excellent." 

"Despite being knocked out we have to keep playing like this. There are a lot of disappointed people and that's normal. Winning the Champions League is really important and I think we are on the way to that. There's room for improvement and that's what we have to do." 

"I value what I have seen. It's clear we did not have much luck, but that's the way it is and we have to accept that. We have a young team and they will get better. It's good to talk about what they have done and we have to be proud of it." 

"We are disappointed but we will be back," concluded Flick as he turned his focus to the rest of the season: "The next step is to win the league. We want to win it and it does not matter when, but we want to win it as soon as possible." 

 

Força Barça