Real Betis manager, Gustavo Poyet, gave a press conference after the game against FC Barcelona.

Team’s performance: “In spite of Barcelona’s control, the match was going as expected until the 37^th minute. They were in control, we were trying to solve defensive problems and take them by surprise. 1-1 at that stage was a reflection of what we wanted. Then Messi scored, even if we had worked on it, and that unbalanced the game. It became difficult then. I always tell people that when you play here, there are moments when you want to go for the game, but if you go too much they can score five or six. That feeling is difficult for the players to manage. You have to be mentally strong to play the whole 90 minutes at the same level. You can get there after 20 or 30 games, but it’s difficult at the beginning.”

The rival: “If they have many chances they are going to score because they are top quality at the front. If we analyse goal by goal, I’d tell you that two or three of their goals you need to accept them, it’s Barcelona in the end. The rest, we should’ve defended better. The combination of good defending and counterattack didn’t work as we expected. They are Barcelona. They have things the rest don’t.”

Is Barcelona even better when you play against them?: “I’m going to say something that may seem a contradiction. As a football fan, I enjoyed with Messi. It’s a pleasure to be in stadium watching Messi as he played today. The problem is that you are playing against him, and don’t want him to do it so good. Barcelona is as good as it gets, regardless if you watch it on TV or on the field. Clocks sometimes move too fast, and today it looked like it didn’t move at all. It always looked like there was 20 or 30 minutes left. That shows Barcelona is in control and making you suffer.”

Luis Suárez: “I didn’t have doubts about his ability, but I though he was going to be a little bit more merciful towards a fellow Uruguayan, but when he is on the pitch he does what he has to do.”

How is the Betis you want to see?: “I’m trying to explain to people that we are a new team. We have 10 new players out of 23. We need to find the way to our identity, with a strong character that represents me on the pitch, but winning. The rhetoric language ends up in defeat, except if you are a big team, and I want to win. I want to find that combination to win next Friday. It’s necessary to give some time to analyse what I want.”

Not all the teams play like Barcelona: “I said it before the game and I still say it. If you want to beat Barcelona you have to play a spectacular match. You have to be very accurate on the ball and defend perfectly. We scored two goals. Our idea was that, we didn’t come to score five. The plan was to score two or three and for them to score one or two. It didn’t happen, we only did half of it.”

Jonas injured: “We needed strong people today, able to be the 90 minutes at the same pace, and Jonas has that. He has the ability to the same in the 2^nd and in the 88^th minute. It’s a pity he fell injured, but we need to be prepared. They didn’t have Iniesta nor Neymar today. So it’s no excuse.”