The Barcelona assistant manager Jordi Roura has said that he is in charge of a special group of players. Barcelona managed to overturn a 2-0 first leg deficit against the Italian club AC Milan to win the last 16 tie in the Champions League 4-2 on aggregate. Barcelona came into the second leg encounter at the Camp Nou facing elimination from the competition, but now they have kept their dream of winning the competition for the third time in five years. There have been serious questions about the form of Barcelona in the last few weeks. The team came into the match against AC Milan having lost three out of the last five encounters in all competitions.

However, they proved that they still remain one of the best teams in the world after a scintillating performance especially from the striker Lionel Messi. The Argentine forward opened the scoring for the Catalan club after just 5 min, which helped them push to get the aggregate equaliser once again through the 25-year-old. The former Valencia striker David Villa has found first-team opportunities limited even though he has returned to full fitness, but he showed his worth to the team by scoring the third and crucial goal. Alba’s injury time goal confirmed the progression to the quarter-finals.

“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 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,” said Roura.