Barcelona director of football Andoni Zubizarreta believed La Blaugrana’s physical fitness carried them to the 2-0 win over Granada.
It became an increasingly frustrating night for the Catalans, who struggled to break down a stubborn Granada defence that had goalkeeper Tono in fine form behind it.
However, former Barca player Zubizarreta maintained it was the will to win shown by Tito Vilanova’s men allied to their conditioning that eventually won the day late on.
“We were very intense and our physical fitness carried us through. It was the capacity to last the whole game and finish things off that was fantastic,” he told a Press conference.
“We saw a team that wanted to win and risk everything. We were looking for a goal to come from anywhere knowing that we had left spaces, with Orellana the danger.
“There was a lot of tension out there and we had to fight until the last second. In the first half there were lots of one against two situations but in the second we had more pace.
“Tono saved everything and Victor [Valdes] was also brilliant, but Xavi’s goal allowed us to breathe,” he acknowledged.
Zubizarreta thinks things will get tougher still as more and more sides try to come up with a plan to counter Barca’s attacking capabilities.
“There will be easier and harder games but coaches are working well with tactics and statistics.
“Each one has his own strengths and we will need to have the will to keep playing and attacking. We have to keep trying to do that.”
