Ancelotti: Barca gifted their goals

Carlo Ancelotti quipped that Barcelona were gifted both their goals in the 2-2 draw with Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday evening.

The first leg of this Champions League quarter-final finished all square, with the French twice coming back from a goal down to equalise.

Whilst Barca’s players have complained post-match about the referee’s influence on Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s goal for 1-1, which was scored from an offside position, Ancelotti drew attention to Barca’s second goal, which came from the award of a penalty against goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu.

“Messi’s goal was a gift from us and the second goal was a gift from the referee,” complained Ancelotti post-match.

“Their forward [Alexis Sanchez] has looked for the goalkeeper, it was no penalty. We have experience of Alexis, in August’s friendly he dived. This is not something new for us.

“The result? With a little more courage we would have won the game. It is a bad result for us.

“the return leg does not change for us with or without Messi, we must score two or more goals in the Camp Nou.

“It is always difficult to play against Barcelona. We showed a good attitude, and good character. It will be very difficult but we want to score two goals there, which we managed to do this evening. I have confidence.

The Italian pulled a surprise by naming David Beckham in the starting line-up.

“The goal for the next game is that Beckham play longer than he did here. During the first minutes he played very well. He created many opportunities.”

The French are without last-gasp goalscorer Blaise Matuidi for the second leg through suspension.

“This concerns me, he is very important to us, I hope we will have Thiago Motta back to replace him.

“We also have [Clement] Chantome, a very aggressive player who can do well. We have enough options in midfield.”

Tags Alexis Ancelotti Paris Saint-Germain PSG Sanchez
La Liga - Club News