Fond farewell for Bursaspor boss Sağlam

A 1-1 draw at home against Rangers FC represented "a nice farewell" to the UEFA Champions League for group stage debutants Bursaspor, with the Turkish champions' coach Ertuğrul Sağlam eager for his side to qualify for the 2011/12 competition to "put into practice what we learned this year". Light Blues boss Walter Smith, meanwhile, saluted Bursaspor's determination, as he turned his attention toward the UEFA Europa League round of 32.

Ertuğrul Sağlam, Bursaspor coach
Two days ago we played a very hard match [Sunday's 1-0 league defeat at Beşiktaş JK] where we played the entire second half with ten men. Our players were totally exhausted, so we made eight changes for the starting XI against Rangers. It was a nice farewell to the Champions League for us, maybe not in terms of the score but for the way we played and the bravery of our players.

We finished our group with one point and any Turkish side that does that cannot be regarded as a success. There are lots of reasons why we fell short; it was our first experience in the competition and there was a big difference in terms of power between us and the top teams in the group. We hope to be in the Champions League again next year and then we'll be able to put into practice what we learned this year.

We pressured Rangers a lot at the end because we really wanted to have a happy ending in front of our supporters. I think the fans enjoyed the game. We are happy to get our first point.

Walter Smith, Rangers manager
We were pleased to be ahead at half-time. Second half as it wore on, Bursaspor deserve credit for the amount of pressure they put us under. They pushed a lot of players forward and put a lot into the game considering they had a game on Sunday. In the balance of the game they probably deserved to get back into it.

It was a good performance from [Kenny Miller]. It was a terrific goal and Kenny's having that kind of season. He's scoring that type of goal, so obviously I'm delighted from our own point of view. He also created a good opportunity for Steven Naismith in the early part of the game.

We are disappointed not to hold on after losing a goal in the last ten minutes, but that's football and we'll just have to wait and see what happens. There's still improvement to make in overall possession of the ball. That's the improvement we have to make if we're to continue playing in the formation that we've used [in the Champions League].