Pedro Rodriguez recalled the moment he scored Barcelona’s crucial goal against a Paris Saint-Germain team they ‘expected to be difficult’.
PSG took the lead on Wednesday evening in this Champions League quarter-final second leg, before Pedro’s strike settled the score 1-1 on the night, guaranteeing Barca’s place in the semi-finals 3-3 on aggregate on away goals.
“In the move for the goal I could see that David Villa had the ball under control. He had his back to goal so I was facing it and I could see the little gap to the keeper's left,” recalled Pedro to UEFA’s official website.
“I tried to hit it really hard because there were players all over the place in front of me and in the end I just struck it really cleanly.
“I'm delighted to have scored, naturally, but above all it's satisfying that the team is in the semi-finals.
“We knew full well that this was going to be a difficult match – really keenly contested. The fact that PSG went 1-0 up made things pretty complicated for us, but in the end we got the draw because we played well, because we used our heads – that's what put us in the final.
“I think that PSG are already a terrific team with top players. Perhaps they're still a team under construction, technically speaking, but they have wonderful players and are very competitive.
“The semi-final draw is a complicated one. We'll be happy with whoever we get. They are three difficult opponents with great footballers. We'll have a tough tie whoever the draw gives us.”
