Rubin revel in Camp Nou conquest

FC Rubin Kazan goalscorer Aleksandr Ryazantsev savoured the glory of sending his team to a historic victory over European champions FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou and then warned that the Russian champions are ready to repeat the dose on Matchday 4.

Shooting certainty
Ryazantsev crashed home a long-range shot in the second minute, setting the stage for a victory which was sealed in the second half by Gökdeniz Karadeniz's winner on the counterattack. The result may have come as a surprise, but Ryazantsev told uefa.com none of the Rubin players had been particularly surprised by their display. "From first thing this morning the group felt a huge motivation," the 23-year-old said.

'Top performance'
"We knew we were about to give a top performance even if we didn't actually think we would definitely win. I don't often shoot from distance like I did for the goal but just at that moment when I was about to strike the ball I felt an absolute conviction that I'd score and thankfully it came off. Despite the result and despite the fact people will say Barça didn't play at their best we've beaten one of the great teams in the world and I don't see why we can't do the same thing in the next match when the come to Russia."

Barça misfortune
Perhaps that already is haunting minds in the Barcelona dressing room although midfielder Xavi Hernández shrugged off the idea that this was any kind of Group F disaster. "I thought the team was fine," the Spanish international said. "We shot at goal a lot and we did the hard part of equalising. Unfortunately they got a goal on the break but that can happen." Defeat means that coach Guardiola has now been involved in both of Barcelona's home defeats by Russian sides after playing in the 3-2 loss to PFC CSKA Moskva which eliminated then holders Barça from the 1992/93 competition. Although history has repeated itself in one respect, the Spanish side still top the section.

Russian celebrations
Given that Zlatan Ibrahimović not only scored but hit the bar during a consummate performance, perhaps Barça should have conserved the point which his goal offered. However, Alejandro Domínguez set Karadeniz free and his strike gave the visitors a famous victory. Domínguez told uefa.com: "For that second goal I picked up possession in midfield and I must admit I thought about shooting. However I pushed forward sufficiently to see the pass was on and opted to release. I guess that Barça would have found it easier if we'd come out to play toe-to-toe with them but it was always our intention to defend in numbers and hit on the break. Now we can expect a huge welcome home, not just from Rubin fans but from all Russia because this was a historic win."