Valverde relieved to see Barca through to Champions league last 16

Barcelona manager, Ernesto Valverde is pleased that his team qualified for the Champions League round of 16 stage after picking up a draw with Juventus in Turin on Wednesday night.

The Spanish giants need just one point to be through as the other game of the group between Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos ended 3-1 in favour of third-placed Sporting.

With Sporting now on 7 points, one point behind Juventus, the last group games will be fierce as both teams will put in their best to seal qualification.

And Valverde, whose side will play Sporting in the final game, believes having been through to the next round, the game against the Portuguese giants will cause less tension for his side.

“We are happy, I cannot deny that,” said Valverde in his Press conference.

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“This draw is useful and we knew that a defeat here would make it dangerous in the final game with Sporting. We knew Juventus have a very strong home record, but we held out well throughout.”

About his decision to start superstar, Lionel Messi on the bench, the manager said: “He has played a lot so far this season and has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders too.

“We knew the game could open up in the second half, so I wanted to both let him rest and have an option to shake things up.

“It was an internal matter, we thought it was the right match to not play for 90 minutes and I don’t want to talk about it too much.”

Barca will host Sporting in the final Group D game on December 5 as Olympiakos will take on Juventus.

 

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