Rijkaard defends Messi http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=365891&CPID=5&clid=&lid=&title= Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has jumped to the defence of Lionel Messi after he was accused of play-acting. Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho hit out at the Argentine starlet for his role in the sending off of Asier Del Horno. Rijkaard moved to support his players and insists Messi did not try to con the referee. "I see fouls on Messi all the time and he is not a player to overreact," said Rijkaard. "I prefer not to go into things said by other people. Every manager has a right to say what he thinks about any situation. I prefer to do my job." Rijkaard was delighted with the way his side came back from a goal down to earn a 2-1 first leg advantage to Camp Nou and he is determined to finish the job off in Spain. "It was an important result for us in a special game," added Rijkaard. "We showed a lot of maturity. "It was not our best performance but the main thing was that we concentrated well against difficult opponents. "We will take the game in the Nou Camp very seriously. "We intend to finish the job there but it will still be difficult. We won't rest on our laurels." ------------------------------------------------ Messi refutes cheat claims http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid=365957&CPID=5&clid=&lid=&title= Barcelona starlet Lionel Messi insists he did not play-act to get Chelsea's Asier Del Horno sent off in his side's 2-1 UEFA Champions League victory at Stamford Bridge. Del Horno was dismissed eight minutes before half time after a coming together with the young Argentine that left both players rather theatrically writhing around on the floor. Norwegian official Terje Hauge opted to show Chelsea's left back a red card much to the disgust of his team-mates and boss Jose Mourinho. Mourinho has subsequently slammed Messi for his part in the incident and is in no doubt his antics influenced the official's decision. However, the teenager has hit back and claims he was not guilty of simulation. "I did not fake anything," he stated. "It was clear that in the first challenge that he went in studs up and in the second Del Horno was very hard and was intending to hurt me, but I jumped and for that reason did not get it." Team-mate Deco was also quick to spring to Messi's defence, adding: "Leo did not play-act. It was a very hard challenge and left him with an ugly mark - just look at his leg." That controversial incident apart, Messi turned in a superlative display and is now confident Barca will progress if they can reproduce a similar performance in two weeks' time. "If we are capable of playing in the Camp Nou how we did in the second half then we won't have any problems in getting through," he continued. "It was a very important result. "It would have been nice to have scored a goal but the most important thing is this good result." -- Messi也說話了 這紅牌爭議真大 --

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