Javier Mascherano warns Barcelona: Champions League tie with Bayern is not over
Thursday 7 May 2015 07:26, UK
Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano has warned his team-mates their Champions League semi-final with Bayern Munich is not over, despite taking a 3-0 lead with them into the second leg.
Luis Enrique’s side now have all but one foot in the final in Berlin in June after scoring three times in the final 15 minutes against the Bundesliga champions at the Nou Camp on Wednesday night.
However, Mascherano says Barcelona must not take their eye off the ball in the return leg at the Allianz Arena on Tuesday evening if they want to keep alive their dream of winning the Champions League for a fifth time in their history.
“We have Messi, so it is an advantage for us,” Mascherano told Sky Sports after the match.“It was a very tight and difficult game, but we had the best chances to score. I think we played how we wanted to play beforehand, so we are really happy.
“Now we know how difficult it will be in Germany. It is a good advantage, but it is not done. We have to keep the mentality and go in with the same mentality that we went in with today and try to do our jobs.
“We knew that Pep [Guardiola] would try to win on any pitch and in any stadium, and they came to press higher, but sometimes when you go and try and press high, you take risks and we know we had a lot of people in front with quality to make the difference.”
Mascherano was full of praise for his compatriot Messi, whose two goals after half-time saw the playmaker take his tally of Champions League goals to a record 77.
“Messi is a player who is impossible to describe. You just have to watch him, so we are happy as it is a good result, but we need to think about next week and try to do our job to be in the final,” he added.
“We were lucky to score, so they tried to play a little bit wider and we could find some spaces to play on the counterattack and that is the way we scored the last two goals.
“So it is important when we can play a little bit deep and to try and play counterattack and to have the players we have like Neymar, Messi and Suarez.”
