Barcelona's 'special' players fill Roura with pride

Jordi Roura, Barcelona assistant coach
It was an incredible game. We went into it with a very difficult result from the first leg. These players have shown once again that they are very special. They put in a great work-rate, they showed real dedication. I am very proud of them. We went for the win from the off but we also had a stroke of luck when Milan hit the post.

The fans were fantastic and were a decisive factor in the team's achievement tonight. We tried to open up the pitch while pushing [David] Villa towards their central defenders in order to prevent them moving into the position of our false No9, [Lionel] Messi. That led to a higher attacking intensity in the final third.

Even if we hadn't gone through I would still have been proud of this group of players because of the level they played at. We spoke with Tito Vilanova and were in constant contact with him. His recovery is going well and he will be back soon. Personally I feel calm and happy. I have always said we are going through very special circumstances right now and I am just trying to do my job. We are still in the UEFA Champions League. We have no preference who we play in the next round.

The criticism [of the team] lately has been too strong. For that reason we have to be doubly proud of the players who showed their commitment and intensity here. Their efforts are incomparable. The important thing was how we reacted to [previous] defeats. With everything this team have won in the past their ambition and desire are still intact.

Massimiliano Allegri, Milan coach
In the first half-hour Barcelona played extraordinarily well. They were very good especially in pressing us high, making it very difficult for us to come out from our own half with the ball. They scored three of their four goals after we lost possession with bad mistakes. Football is also a matter of centimetres because we hit the post when we could have made it 1-1 and a few moments later they scored the second with a ball going between the legs of our defender.

I'm sorry, especially for the lads who worked hard to achieve the result they were dreaming of. It was very difficult tonight but we stayed in the game until the final whistle as we had a couple of good opportunities at the end. We are a young team, we need to grow, and you do that gaining experiences like this in the Champions League.

We are sad because we had great expectations after the first leg. Football is like that; in the first leg we were lucky when we scored our first goal, tonight we were unlucky when we hit the post at a crucial moment of the game. Barcelona have great players like Messi and Iniesta who can dribble past any defenders easily, even after running for 90 minutes. But my players never gave up, even after Barcelona's third goal.