Ernesto Valverde: 'Barcelona players lacked composure against Espanyol'

Ernesto Valverde has confessed that "the result is not good" for Barcelona after going down 1-0 to rivals Espanyol in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final tie.

  "Despite suffering in strategic situations, sometimes it seems that you suffer more because of the environment than the chances," he told reporters after the match. "But their approach was to sit back and wait for us, closing any interior spaces. It was hard for us, but we had it under control. "We were not successful in goal situations. The penalty save reactivated the crowd - there was some tension and then they scored. We wanted to do the same as always [in terms of the way they approached the game], but they defended well, they got it right in the move for the goal and Diego Lopez's penalty stop. We have to come back. "The favourite at the end is the one who is winning, who has an advantage, in the same way as when we drew against Cekta Vigo [in the last 16]. The result is not good for us. We have to play at home, but they'll try to score. It's the cup and you have to play until the end."