Barcelona, Nov 25 (IANS) Italian football club AS Roma’s head coach Rudi Garcia has admitted FC Barcelona were too good for them in a 1-6 Champions League group stage thrashing here and said that the Catalan unit “is an unbeatable machine”.
Barcelona pounded Roma with braces each from the returning striker Lionel Messi and forward Luis Suarez at the Camp Nou stadium on Tuesday. Roma had held Barcelona 1-1 in the home leg last month but failed to match the firepower of Luis Enrique’s men in the Group E return leg match.
“We needed a miracle to win tonight and we didn’t get one. Tonight’s result is down to Barcelona’s performance and this just goes to show how well we did in the game in Rome,” Garcia told the club’s website asroma.it on Tuesday.
“A team that beats Real Madrid 4-0 and is playing at top form is an unbeatable machine. They are out of this world and you can’t play against them right now. You didn’t need tonight’s performance to know that they’re a great side,” he added.
“We are quite a way off them and if they’re not the best in the world, then they are right up there. I’m upset and angry because the scoreline was huge.”
However, the relief came before their match as Belarusian team BATE Borisov and German outfit Bayer Leverkusen played out a draw, also on Tuesday in another Group E match, meaning their qualification to the pre-quarterfinals will depend on their match at home against Borisov on December 9.
Currently, Roma are second in the group on goal difference with five points. With Barcelona already qualified, Roma can progress with a win against Borisov.
“The good news had arrived even before kick-off,” Garcia said. “The draw between Borisov and Leverkusen leaves fate in our hands. ”
Reflecting on the match, the coach said “winning tonight was an impossible task”.
The coach shifts focus to Serie A action where they are currently fourth in the standings. Their points tally, 27 is three short of leaders Inter Milan.
They host Atalanta on Sunday.
