Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta has praised Tata Martino’s handling of the side’s loss to Real Valladolid and victory over Manchester City
Barca beat City 2-1 on Wednesday night and 4-1 on aggregate to go through to the competition’s quarter finals.
“We have played a very good game. We were against a great opponent, who has a lot of talents, and wanted to have the ball but we have controlled every facet of the game,” AS reports Zubi as saying.
“City might have come at us in the second half but it’s normal, they had to risk it, and we’ve also had our chances.
“We should also note the huge save made by Victor Valdes from Edin Dzeko. It was of the highest level, what we’re used to.
“The tie was decided over 180 minutes. We had a good lead from the first leg but it could have gotten complicated.
“The Coach has worked very well and has managed the team’s defeat against Valladolid.
“The team is fine physically. If not we wouldn’t have managed to play a good game against a team as powerful as City.”
Zubi added that he doubts gestures allegedly made by Dani Alves towards the crowd after the final whistle were intended as anything negative or offensive.
