Barça coach Valverde: It was not a game for experiments
The Barça coach explained the decision to start Paulinho
He was happy with the final result in London
Ernesto Valverde was satisfied with the 1-1 draw Barcelona picked up at Chelsea on Tuesday. He felt it was a deserved result, although he also said the tie remains open.
"This is a tough ground to come to and we have played against the Premier League champions," the Barça coach said.
"So I see [the result] very positively. It was a game of different styles. We wanted to have control of the ball, they tried after the first few minutes to surprise us on the counter-attack. We lacked clarity in the final third, they defended well there was a lot of traffic close to their area, it was difficult for us.
"They had shots from range from Willian with the two posts and the goal. We we were unable to create clear-cur chances despite dominating the play. In the end, [our goal] came from an error from them and we took advantage of it. It is a good score given we were behind and clearly there is everything left to decide in the second leg."
There was only really one place up for grabs in the Barça side and it was given to Paulinho, ahead of Ousmane Dembele, Andre Gomes and Aleix Vidal.
Explaining the decision, Valverde said: "A game of this calibre after what we've gone through this season, I focus on what we have done up until now. Behind the decision to play Paulinho is the fact it was not a game to experiment in, it is a game to be sure.
"I had to respect what we have done until now, Paulinho is the third highest scorer in the team, then [with the substitution] what we looked for with Aleix Vidal was more width."
Barça have the slight advantage going into the second leg at Camp Nou thanks to Lionel Messi's equaliser, his first ever goal against Chelsea in his ninth appearance.
"It is very important to have scored here and logically both teams will respect their own style in the second leg, they have the attacking resources to cause us problems in the second leg," Valverde added.
"It is important to have go into the second leg in front with the say goal but this one is far from decided."
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