Ronald Koeman praised Barcelona’s mentality as they made a remarkable comeback over Sevilla in the Copa del Rey semi-final.
After Ousmane Dembele had halved Seville‘s total lead, Gerard Pique‘s head commanded extra time and was allowed Martin Braithwaite to score the deciding goal.
“We’ve always believed,” Koeman said full time. “We never gave up on the Copa. It’s a matter of mindset.
“I, as a coach, can’t ask my team to do more than what I’ve seen tonight. We’ve fought for extra time and it’s incredible. I’m very happy with the team’s work tonight.
“We deserved to keep going. I think we were better on both legs. We were the best team.”
The return win comes just four days after a 2-0 win over Sevilla at LaLiga Santander, where they also played a 3-5-2 line-up.
“It was very important to our confidence,” Koeman said about the victory in Seville.
“The way we played there. It was our first game [with 3-5-2]We tried to play the same game today and it worked.
“We managed to score three goals and could have scored more. You couldn’t ask for more.”