Onto the game then, a few Spanish reporters were generally surprised at how un-aggressive Rangers were and expected more of a battle, whereas some (namely those in Madrid) thought that while being limited technically, we had too much respect for The Catalans and were somewhat in awe of Barça's reputation. - Some argued that Barça were off-form and were there for the beating…if only Rangers could have shown more ambition. However most reported that Barça dominated the game and were critical of the defensive tactics employed by Rangers.
Some of the headlines;
Todos Contentos (Everyone happy) from Madrid based Marca
La superioridad del Barcelona no se refleja en el marcador (The superiority of Barcelona wasn't reflected in the scoreline) from Catalan broadsheet La Vanguardia who went onto say in their report that ' Rangers y su gente festejaron el empate como si se tratara de un triunfo spectacular (Rangers and their support celebrated the draw as if it was a spectacular triumph)…patronising…I know.
They also were expecting a far more aggressive Rangers arguing that: ' Rangers afronto el partido con demasiado respeto' (we approached the match with too much respect.
Madrid based AS described it as a ' Empate válido' (a fair draw)
Yes the headlines aren't great, but the simple fact is Barcelona were ground down at Ibrox last night by dogged resistance and couldn't come up with a way to beat us…so much so that they even gave up trying to do so and in the end were just as happy as we were to take the point.
Maccloyalist.