Tiredness an issue for Barca, Atletico

MADRID, Apr 6 (AFP): Barcelona and Atletico Madrid bosses Gerardo Martino and Diego Simeone believed their sides struggled physically as they laboured to victories over and Real Betis and Villarreal respectively on Saturday.
Atletico remain a point clear of the Catalans with six games to go in La Liga, but it was their Champions League quarter-final clash that occupied the minds of both coaches as the sides meet on Wednesday at the Vicente Calderon for the second leg after a 1-1 draw at the Camp Nou on Tuesday.
Martino admitted Barca hadn't matched their standards of late as two goals from Lionel Messi and Jordi Figueras own goal was enough to see them past bottom of the table Betis 3-1.
"I expected that the game wouldn't have the same level of play as the other day against Atletico. Tuesday took a lot out of us. I saw a bit of the Atletico game and the same happened to them," he said.
"Today, as an exception, we value the result above everything. It wasn't due to concentration or underestimating the opponent, Betis played very well. At some points our work rate dropped a bit because we were lacking a bit physically.