Unzué rallies Barcelona for assault on Bristol

FC Barcelona outshone Bristol Academy WFC in every statistic in the first leg of their UEFA Women's Champions League round of 16 tie, except one: goals scored.

Despite 19 attempts on goal, eight of which hit the target and one that hit the woodwork, the Catalan side suffered just their second defeat of the season in all competitions, Marta Corredera's first-half own goal allowing Dave Edmondson's team to leave the Mini Estadi with a 1-0 win.

"We weren't happy at all when we got to the dressing room," captain Marta Unzué told UEFA.com. "There was a feeling of frustration because we had chances – they may not have been the clearest of chances, but we got close to Bristol's area a lot, and we were frustrated we couldn't get a favourable result."

Unzué, though, conceded that the canny Bristol had given her side "one of the toughest matches" they have played this term. "They came here to play a certain way and try to take a good result away with them, which meant conceding as few goals as possible and creating one or two chances, and that approach worked well for them," she said.

The Spanish champions head to Ashton Gate on Thursday looking to channel their frustration into a result that will put them into the quarter-finals for the second year running. Unzué's team certainly believe they can carve out opportunities, though the 26-year-old defender expects Bristol to offer more in attack this time out.

"There is a feeling that we can turn the tie around, but we know it won't be easy at all," she noted. "I don't think they are going to just sit back. Now the tie is tilted in their favour, they are going to protect their lead, but they will also try to score and kill off the tie. But we need a goal to level things up and we are going to go all out for that goal."

The competition continues to provide plenty of thrills for Unzué. "We are playing in the Champions League, against the best women in Europe, so every team is of a very high quality and every game is important," she said.

"It's all about giving everything you have for 90 minutes," she went on. "I hope there will be a lot of fans at the game getting behind Bristol and that we can enjoy a good game of women's football. We're really looking forward to it and we're keen to show we can get a good result and get through the tie. We are excited and confident that if we play like we know how, we can win the tie."