Van Gaal Pleased By Barcelona

Manchester United recorded an excellent 3-1 win over European champions Barcelona on Saturday and, afterwards, Louis van Gaal held a fascinating post-match press conference in front of the world’s media. Here are the main points that the manager was keen to make…

On the win and United’s strength in depth: “The balance of the team is the most important thing. Last year we won against the Champions League winner, it was Real [Madrid] at that time. Now we win against Barcelona so it is possible, but we also had a bit of luck. Three balls hit the post but I was pleased with our performance. Also in the second half, when the youngsters came in, you saw a spirit. We had the same amount of chances as Barcelona and that I like the most today.”

On David De Gea’s form and future: “You have seen him in the first 60 minutes, in spite of his injury, he didn’t train for a week, that he can show his quality already in this game. He has showed his quality I think because the first chance was for Barcelona and when you stop the first chance then you can score the first goal. That is always the difference in the game. Yes, of course, I do hope that De Gea shall stay but in this world of football you never know.”

On Memphis Depay and Wayne Rooney linking up: “Yes I think they try to do their utmost best to look for each other and sometimes I think too much. It should be better when we have a wider orientation, but I think they were always a threat and that is very important. I think Barcelona could not cope with the threat of Depay and Rooney, but I have to say that Adnan Januzaj was also a big threat for them in the 30 minutes that he played as a striker. That is good to see.”