An ecstatic Xavi Hernandez hailed the remarkable comeback by Barcelona as a "night to enjoy," while assistant manager Jordi Roura called it an "incredible game," as the home side produced a result for the ages by scoring four unanswered goals past Milan in the last 16 Champions League second leg.
The Camp Nou witnessed Barca's mastery at its peak as the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Xavi ran riot against the shellshocked Italians to go through to the quarterfinals 4-2 on aggregate.
"This is a night to enjoy," Xavi said after the game. "I have to say thanks to the fans. They were incredible. We played a marvellous game. We were always comfortable.
"It was so hard to come back from a result like that, especially against an Italian team. We attacked Milan from all sides. We played with intensity.
"We were missing our dynamism in the first leg but you saw a different story tonight (Tuesday). The pitch is really quick here and allows for more movement. In the quarterfinals we know we will have to compete as we did tonight."
Much had been talked about Barca's recent slump being a cause of Tito Vilanova not being available as he undergoes cancer treatment in New York, and the Spanish side almost seemed to take inspiration from their manager in putting up a brilliant performance.
"It was an incredible game," Roura said. "We went into it with a very difficult result from the first leg. These players have shown once again that they are very special.
"They put in a great work-rate, they showed real dedication. I am very proud of them.
"Even if we hadn't gone through I would still have been proud of this group of players because of the level they played at. We spoke with Tito Vilanova and were in constant contact with him.
"His recovery is going well and he will be back soon. Personally I feel calm and happy. I have always said we are going through very special circumstances right now and I am just trying to do my job."
Milan manager Massimiliano Allegri was understandably upset by the result, but admitted they came up against a Barca side that were hard to stop.
"In the first half-hour Barcelona played extraordinarily well," he said. "They were very good especially in pressing us high, making it very difficult for us to come out from our own half with the ball.
"They scored three of their four goals after we lost possession with bad mistakes. Football is also a matter of centimetres because we hit the post when we could have made it 1-1 and a few moments later they scored the second with a ball going between the legs of our defender.
"I'm sorry, especially for the lads who worked hard to achieve the result they were dreaming of. It was very difficult tonight but we stayed in the game until the final whistle as we had a couple of good opportunities at the end.
"We are a young team, we need to grow, and you do that gaining experiences like this in the Champions League."
