Rijkaard: Racing Were Always Going To Be Difficult

Barcelona were unable to play their best football against an organised Racing side, despite having the better in terms of possession.

They eked out a narrow 1-0 win thanks to a Thierry Henry header following a goalline scramble, and Rijkaard was happy to take the points.

"They [Racing] are in good form, and you have to remember that," he said after the game.

"They have a good team. They drop back quickly in defend in numbers, and keep their shape on the pitch at all times.

"We did not move the ball around as well as we should have, but a lot of that has to do with Racing's organization."

"We were a little slow in the first half," he continued. "In the second, we had some quick movement, and showed that we wanted to go for it."

There were a few jeers from the home fans, but Rijkaard did not want to focus on that. "The fans responded when we upped the tempo, and were backing us," he insisted.

There some individual jeers for Giovani dos Santos, the fans seemingly picking on him for being selfish on the pitch, and also trying to show off unsuccessfully. However, Rijkaard has backed the young Mexican.

"He must get past this," said the Dutchman. "He is a player who works very hard for the team."

Asked about Real Madrid's win against Atletico, in a game in which Los Merengues were tipped to drop points, he said: "We must focus on ourselves, and on picking up all the points we can. The most important thing is to do our bit in every game."