BATE left in awe by 'unbelievable' Barcelona

The FC BATE Borisov players knew they would come up against a superior force when the European champions turned up in Belarus last night but were still left in awe by an FC Barcelona side who triumphed 5-0 in Group H. For Lionel Messi, meanwhile, it was mission accomplished.

Filipp Rudik, BATE midfielder
We lost 5-0 ... it's hard to add anything to that and I can't find the exact words. From one point of view there should be some joy at playing against such a classy team, but on the other hand ... there are no emotions left now.
 
Maybe we lacked concentration. Barcelona were constantly getting the ball into the box, trying to cut through our defence with their passing and Messi was unstoppable; this guy is extraordinary. A lot of the guys were nervous but nobody thought this would be the result – at least we did better than Osasuna [who were beaten 8-0 by Barça on 17 September]

Aleksandr Volodko, BATE midfielder
Barça are simply unbelievable, with players who have played in numerous European finals. What can you say if even Manchester United can't do anything against them? They gave us a good lesson. Yes, it's painful to lose 5-0 at home, but you saw how Barça attacked, how they moved on the pitch and controlled the ball. Now we'll try to recover in our matches against Milan and Viktoria [Plzeň].

Yegor Filipenko, BATE defender
We had planned to sit deep and stop them getting in behind us with dangerous passes. You've seen the outcome of it: an own goal and two mistakes and the score was 3-0. We were forced to open up, try something, but Barça controlled the ball very well and it was tough to get it from them.

Lionel Messi, Barcelona forward
It was a difficult game, with how they played at the back. It wasn't easy to find free space when they closed everything down with many men close to their area. But then the first goal came, luckily, and it changed everything. We're happy with the victory, which was our objective, like in the first game. We have to grow. We need patience to find our rhythm, but we're happy to have won.