06 January,2012 08:40 AM IST | | Agencies
Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola admitted Lionel Messi made the difference after the Argentine came off his sick bed to score twice in their 4-0 Copa del Rey win over Osasuna.
Barca were leading 2-0 in their last-16 first-leg clash with two early Cesc Fabregas goals. Half an hour from the end, Messi, who was initially ruled out of the game, came on and scored in the 72nd and 90th minutes to put Barca through to a likely quarter-final with Real Madrid.
"In the morning he had a stomach ache, he was in pain, cold and had fever sowe decided that he stay home. Later, he called and said he was feeling better. I left him on the bench, we hadn't closed out the game and I decided to put him in for half an hour. We know that we're a little bit better with Messi," Guardiola told Barcelona's website.
