"Panathinaikos' win is absolutely deserved. People may say they were lucky but I don't agree. After that performance we don't deserve to go through. We must be angry with ourselves."
Jose Mourinho surprisingly philosophical over Inter Milan’s defeat to Panathinaikos, the first in their European campaign this season.
"The biggest success is that we made Greek players believe they can win away from home. Normally their self-belief away is not so big but they proved they can learn quickly.”
Panathinaikos manager Henk Ten Cate’s naturally buoyant post-match comments after dispatching Inter Milan at the San Siro. The Athens-based club reignited their hopes of progressing into the final 16 as the three points resulted in an elevation to 2nd place in Group B, with the Italian champions one point ahead.
“Sadly, we woke up too late. When at the end we did play better it wasn't enough. We are disappointed because we didn't reach our target and now we play Inter hoping for a Uefa Cup place."
Thomas Schaaf reflecting on Werder Bremen’s very average Champions League campaign, despite the efforts from Diego and Hugo Almeida which salvaged a draw against Anorthosis Famagusta.
"Europe are now talking about us...but we need a result in Athens.”
Anorthosis Famagusta manager Temuri Ketsbaia.
"I believe his focus was great. He wanted to do well and you could see he was completely committed in the game. Overall, I feel he did well."
Arsene Wenger delighted with the performance of the returning William Gallas, who was stripped of his captaincy after his public attack on his team-mates. Nikolas Bendtner scored the only goal in Arsenal’s 1-0 triumph over Dynamo Kyiv and consequently booked the Gunners’ place in the exclusive next round.
"My team were bravehearts, it was not the best game, it was 50/50. The Celtic coach was great afterwards. He came over and congratulated me. He gave me a smile which is fantastic."
Aalborg coach Allan Kuhn praising his Celtic counterpart for reacting positively to the defeat, not that it was much consolation to Strachan as their away day curse struck again and the Scottish champions crashed out of Europe entirely.
"We like to think that we are a big club and that we can handle defeat. We will not say that Aalborg were lucky. We had it in our own hands to win and we are not going to look anywhere else. I couldn't fault any of the players, I really couldn't.”
Gordon Strachan commenting on Celtic’s defeat - any possibility of clinching the derisory UEFA Cup place was snatched away from them in the latter stages of the match. Caca’s deflected shot and Gary Caldwell’s own goal threw the win to the Danish club despite Bryan Robson’s opening header that gave Celtic an initial advantage.
"It's never easy, it helped scoring two goals early. In the second half we lost control of the game, we had a lot of luck with the fourth one."
An uneasy Pep Guardiola on Barcelona’s 5-2 demolition job of Sporting Lisbon.
"It was a moving experience to have the fans outside on a cold night, urging the team on. To go out on the street and stay out in the cold without seeing the game while staying animated throughout like that. I think the players noted that and felt that. The public is an indispensable asset for us.”
Atletico Madrid coach Javier Aguirre in complete admiration of the club’s fans, who celebrated their victory over PSV Eindhoven behind the Vicente Calderon stadium. No supporters were allowed into the stands as punishment by UEFA for crowd trouble last September, but goals from Simao Sabrosa and Maxi Rodriguez ensured they marched into the next round alongside Liverpool in Group D.
"Torres was a threat, Gerrard was a threat and Benayoun the same - but they [Marseille] have good players and played with pace - and they had clear chances but they had the same problem as us with the final pass, which was the difference today."
Rafa Benitez contemplates the difficulties which posed both Liverpool and Marseille, with Steven Gerrard’s header midway through the first half proving the decisive difference.
"The game is easy for us - 1-0 - but easy, we controlled the game. This is the main problem for us, they crossed the ball and one player changed the position, not marked and at this moment, a goal.”
Luiz Felipe Scolari rues dropping a point to rivals Bordeaux, a result which leaves Chelsea's Champions League fate yet to be decided with only one match remaining.
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