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Vilanova: Barcelona win not lucky

FC Barcelona needed a last-gasp goal to beat Celtic FC 2-1 but Tito Vilanova said: "We did enough beforehand to merit the victory." Neil Lennon mixed disappointment with pride.

Vilanova: Barcelona win not lucky
Vilanova: Barcelona win not lucky ©UEFA.com

Tito Vilanova, Barcelona coach
We scored at the death but we did enough beforehand to merit the victory. We brought all of the weight to this encounter; we had the chances and the possession. They were strong on the counter and in their aerial game. We know that if you don't persist, you don't win games.

We knew the risks we were taking, they could have scored a second, but you have to keep going until the end. We knew a week ago that [youth-team defender] Marc Bartra would play this game. He's really quick and has good vision for high balls. We knew he could help us. We could have signed another central defender but it was my decision not to.

[After 100 days in charge] I am happy with how the players are competing and training. It's not easy to play these type of games when you are facing ten or 11 men in their own area. Their goalkeeper did very well, while we also hit the post. It was a difficult encounter, but I don't think we had all of the luck we might have had tonight.

Neil Lennon, Celtic manager
While I'm disappointed for the players I'm also immensely proud of them. They were brave and stuck to what we asked them to do. We conceded ground when we had to, but we defended brilliantly and at times, on the counterattack, we looked dangerous. This is the best team in the world, so to come here to the Nou Camp and play like that doesn't surprise me about these players. Everyone had written us off, but I know the quality and the character of the team.

We're playing it game by game and although we didn't budget for anything from tonight, we came very, very close to getting something. Fraser [Forster] is top class and he'll go really far in the game. But as a group, all 14 of them, I can't speak highly enough of them. We were tiring towards the end. It is physically and mentally demanding, but I thought we'd done enough to see the game out.

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