Pep Guardiola downplays the defeat and says “it is hardly a clarion call.”
Guardiola insisted his team played “well” and that Barça “had done everything to win”, but stressed the accuracy of the Russians, a “home run in the opening minutes” and a counterattack, eventually gave victory to Rubin.
However Xavi believed that the Russians did not deserve the win. He complained that they had virtually no attack and got lucky with the 30 yard scorcher that Ryazantsev unleashed to score the first goal.