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After the lost first UEFA Champions League round of 16 match, London strategist Portuguese Jose Mourinho accused Asier Del Horno of "cheating" Lionel Messi while speaking.
"How do you say 'cheating' in Catalan? Could Messi be disqualified for acting? Barcelona is a cultural city with many good theaters, and this boy learned a lot. He acts excellently," famous coach said.
"I don't want to say too much, because then I will be disqualified. But I am very proud of my team," the coach continued.
Spaniard A. Del Horno was sent off the field when, in the 37th minute of the match, he roughly tackled the young Argentine just near the goal line. Although L. Messi himself stated that the referee's decision was too harsh, he added that A. Del Horno surely deserved the red card for rough play ten minutes earlier.
"The first foul was definitely a red card, but the situation that resulted in the red card was 50-50. I didn't really see what happened there," the eighteen-year-old said.
The young prodigy was defended by the "Barcelona" coach Frank Rijkaard after the match.
"I see fouls against Messi throughout the whole match and he certainly isn't the type of player to react too strongly," the Dutchman said about the young defender.
"It was a very important result in very special matches. There was tension on the field during the match, which was also intensified by the media before the match," commented the Dutchman. "We created many chances, but the 'Chelsea' goal helped us in a very strange way. After that, the team's mood changed. Until then, they were very tense and couldn't perform, but the missed goal helped them do it."
Despite A. Del Horno's removal, the hosts took the lead in the Wednesday match when Thiago Motta sent the ball into his own goal in the middle of the second half.
"I am very proud of my players for how they fought," said J. Mourinho. "It's better to lose like this than like two weeks ago against 'Middlesbrough' (Chelsea were crushed 3-0 - ed.). Playing with ten against eleven is bad. Even worse if it happens against a weaker team and at the end of the match, but playing for an hour against a team like 'Barcelona' with one player down is too much."
