Magath praises 'clever performance'

By Mark Bennett in Stuttgart

VfB Stuttgart coach Felix Magath expressed his delight at his team's clever performance after they defeated Scottish champions Rangers FC 1-0 at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion to clinch a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages.

'Clever display'
"Once again we played a very good game here tonight," Magath said. "It was a concentrated performance from the word go. We dictated the pace, but we found it very hard going against a defensive Rangers side. I must compliment my side on their clever performance, especially after the break."

United test
The only goal of the game came on the stroke of half-time when Stuttgart defender Timo Wenzel was on hand to volley into the net after Rangers failed to clear a free-kick. The result sealed Stuttgart's qualification from Group E, but their 50-year-old coach was still not satisfied. "We will travel to Manchester for our next game and we won't just be there for the trip," Magath insisted. "We now want to take first place in our group."

Balakov praised
Magath, whose side are currently top of the Bundesliga and unbeaten after 13 league games, went on to praise his assistant Krassimir Balakov, who works with the players on different free-kick routines. "Timo took the goal really well, but if you were looking then you will have noticed that he ran straight over to Balakov," the Stuttgart coach pointed out. "He is the one who works moves like this out and it is great to have him on the coaching staff."

'Team effort'
The goalscorer also insisted that he was not the only player who deserved to take credit. "By no means do I feel like a hero today," Wenzel said. "Football is a team sport and the success of the whole side is the most important thing. We all deserve credit for our performances both in the Bundesliga and the Champions League so far. But then again, it was a good feeling to score!"

No complaints
Rangers manager Alex McLeish was disappointed with the result but paid tribute to his injury-depleted side, who were without Mikel Arteta, Ronald de Boer, Craig Moore, Christian Nerlinger and Stevie Thompson. "I can't fault the team on their effort here tonight," he said. "The players worked hard and really gave it their best shot. It is always disappointing when you concede a goal just before half-time because at this level it is hard to come back."

Crucial chance
"We may not have created many chances tonight, but I feel that we had the best chance in the first half when the ball fell for Fernando Ricksen. Sadly Timo Hildebrand made a good save," said McLeish. "I feel that if we could have taken the lead, it would have given Peter Lovenkrands more room up front to get behind their defence. That didn't happen though, and Stuttgart made the best of their chance and sent us packing."

'Do it the hard way'
Rangers now need to avoid defeat at home by Panathinaikos FC on Matchday 6 to qualify for the UEFA Cup, but McLeish is taking nothing for granted against the Greek side, who scored a late equaliser against his team to snatch a 1-1 draw on Matchday 2. "If we had won in Athens we would have been through, but we have left them with a target," the Rangers manager said. "Somehow we always seem to try to do things the hard way."