Benfica coach Ronald Koeman was pleased with his side’s performance in a goalless draw with Barcelona in Lisbon.
Koeman revealed his side had employed a man-to-man marking system to stifle the atttacking threat posed by Barcelona.
“We had double marking – Ricardo Rocha with Ronaldinho and Beto with Deco – and in the second half it worked very well,” claimed Koeman.
“We created chances as Barca had as well so we can be satisfied.”
Koeman also believes his side should have had a penalty for handball against Thiago Motta who blocked Geovanni’s shot.
“We deserved one penalty for handball – we did not have luck on some occasions but did have at other times,” added Koeman.
“We can be pleased with our night’s work.”
“Beyond that, there was the penalty that we deserved. For me, it was a penalty, of course,” Koeman said.
“The result of this game gives us a chance. Barcelona have to attack more, playing in front of their fans, but if we were to play like we did in the second half we have a chance.
“If we go in like we did in the first half, we’ll have a lot of problems.”
Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said afterwards: “Unfortunately we were not able to score but the result was a good one though nothing has been decided one way or another.
“It was a shame we couldn’t score, but the team worked hard and played quite well.
“In the next game we’re sure to score. Normally a draw away from home is a good result.”
“We created a lot of chances and with a bit of luck we could have scored but we can’t complain about what was essentially a good performance.”
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