Rijkaard shrugs off Depor result

Dutch boss Frank Rijkaard shrugged off the 2-0 defeat to Deportivo as Barcelona threw away any title ambitions they had in La Liga on Saturday evening.

"The defeat was the result of many factors - we played another game after only a few days, the players did not have time to recover and this caused their pace to slow during the match," said Rijkaard, who rested several of his first-choice stars.

"The Liga always is difficult. Depor deserved to win the game, but we can give more and still win our remaining games.

"My players wanted to win this game. We didn't take it easy. But it wasn't to be."