Roura: We must congratulate Bayern

Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura was full of praise for Bayern Munich after demolishing his side 4-0 in the UEFA Champions League semi-finals on Tuesday.

The Catalan side had large passages of possession but were lacking their normal effervescent attacking play, and as a result were barely able to test Manuel Neuer in the Bayern goal.

Even the return of Lionel Messi could not spark Barca into life and after their crushing defeat, Roura admitted his side had been well beaten in the semi-final first leg.

“Bayern have to be congratulated,” he told reporters. “They were very strong; they are a very physical team.

“Bayern played a great game while we were lacking that freshness to compete with them and that is something that we have to look at.

“We didn’t see situations where we could have changed things after the break.”

Goals from Thomas Muller top and tailed the scoring for Bayern, with Mario Gomez and Arjen Robben scoring in between the forward’s strikes.

The four-goal deficit leaves Barca with a mountain to climb if they are to make the final at Wembley in May, but Roura clung to what few positives there were and refused to give up hope, despite not being able to make an impact in Germany.

“We didn’t play all that badly in the first half,” he continued. “But then they scored quite early in the second from a strategic move and from there it was difficult.

“We know that the situation is difficult but as Barcelona we have to compete in the second leg and try to win. We will give it our all.”