Barcelona coach Luis Enrique
lavished praise on his boys after they booked their place in the
Copa del Rey semi-finals with a dramatic win over Atletico Madrid on
Wednesday night.
The Catalans led 1-0 from the first leg at Camp Nou but Fernando
Torres levelled the tie on aggregate after less than 60 seconds of play
at the Vicente Calderon.
Neymar equalised only to see Raul Garcia make it 2-1 from the penalty
spot. However, Barca booked their place in the last four with a Miranda
own goal and another Neymar strike just before the break.
Atletico subsequently saw Gabi and Mario Suarez sent off, while Arda
Turan was booked for hurling his boot apparently towards a linesman as
Diego Simeone's side lost their discipline.
However, Luis Enrique did not want to be drawn on the numerous
controversial incidents during the game, preferring instead to salute
his team's character.
"I liked everything about my team, especially the way in which they
recovered from a strange situation at the begining of the match when we
went 1-0 down after a minute," the Barca boss told reporters after the
game.
"Atleti are an amazing team and they are doing a great job, winning
titles in a great way, while the pitch was in very bad condition. The
ball was bouncing around the place like a rabbit!
"I don't know if that's down to the weather but my team adapted to the conditions and I'm very happy with the performance.
"I loved the second half. We had a lot of control."
Luis Enrique also singled two-goal hero Neymar out for special praise after an inspired performance.
"Neymar gives us a lot," the former Spain international added. "He scores, dribbles, he's brave - he played a great game."
Barca will now face Villarreal or Getafe in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey.
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