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"Barcelona" star Lionel Messi, after yesterday's painful 0:4 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final, praised their Catalan rivals: "They proved to be stronger, they were taller than us in every way," writes as.com.
After the loss, in a survey conducted by as.com, whether L. Messi was ready for the match after the injury, even 86 percent of the readers said they thought he was not ready for the game.
The Argentine himself said about his performance: "It's a shame we couldn't do anything against such a team. I felt good myself, although I didn't play for a while due to injury."
On May 1st, "Barcelona" faces the return leg at the "Camp Nou" stadium. "It will be insanely difficult to change the result, but we must think about how to do it. Bayern is an amazing team, but we will try to give all our strength and fight to the end," said the Catalan leader.
He assures that the team will bounce back: "We need to protect the Spanish league title, there are four more games left. Also fight for the Champions League, if that fails - we will think about the upcoming season."
Meanwhile, "Barcelona" defender Xavi Hernandez does not beat around the bush: "The Germans were stronger, my crown won't fall if I admit that," writes marca.com.
"This is the worst result we could have expected. It's practically impossible to win, but we have to try. We must do it for ourselves and for the shield - for the team. Despite that it's almost impossible," repeated the Catalan.
"Physically they are stronger, taller. They took advantage of this advantage and it determined the result," Xavi said. "Attacking, we could hardly move, there were no chances. Indeed, the opponents took advantage of their opportunities perfectly. Also, defending from us, they did an impressive job."
