Rijkaard celebrates Barça dominance

FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said his side dominated their UEFA Champions League fixture with Rangers FC to such an extent that they "could have won by five or six". Instead, they were forced to settle for 2-0 but it was enough to send them three points clear of their opponents at the Group E summit though Rangers remain second with their manager Walter Smith already looking to their Matchday 5 outing against VfB Stuttgart.

Frank Rijkaard, Barcelona coach
I am delighted with the result and I congratulate my players – it is an important step for us in the competition. It was important for us to score early, though it was never easy against such a tough defence. [Rafael] Márquez pulled a muscle during the warm-up and we all decided he shouldn't play but I don't think it's a serious injury. We were the better team; we played well and could have won by five or six. Ronaldinho is a very important player for us and he worked well with [Lionel] Messi. I took him off so he could savour the crowd's applause and because there was no need to take any risks when we were 2-0 up.

Walter Smith, Rangers manager
It was a difficult match and getting off to a bad start with a goal inside the first five minutes didn't help. We have no excuses because we should have defended better. We are obviously disappointed to lose but we have no complaints. Barcelona are difficult to play against and from our point of view we now have to work hard until Christmas. We still have an opportunity to qualify, though, and that's what we hope to do. It all depends on the results of the next Matchday and we will go to Stuttgart and do our best to qualify before our final game.