Markarian wants United next

Panathinaikos FC coach Sergio Markarian had nothing but praise for his side after a 2-2 draw against Real Madrid CF earned them a place in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Total commitment
Markarian paid tribute to the total commitment his side showed at the Apostolis Nikolaidis stadium, and to their overall performance in the Champions League. "I would like to congratulate my players for their efforts, not just tonight but in every training session and every match we have played in this competition," he said. "Their commitment is phenomenal."

Mild disappointment
Panathinaikos put in a sensational display against Group C winners Madrid in Athens and the coach believed they were unlucky to only earn a draw after dominating long periods of the game. "A 2-1 win would have been a more fair result but knowing that [AC] Sparta Praha were winning, I had to turn my thoughts to the next league match against Olympiakos [Piraeus FC] and make substitutions to give my players some rest."

'We do not kid around'
While the coach accepted that his team was probably the smallest one to progress to the quarter-finals, he refused to completely discount Panathinaikos' prospects of progressing further in the competition. "We will see how far we can go match by match," he said. "We are a serious team. We do not kid around. We are not the best in the world but if someone wants to win against us, they will have to run a lot."

Del Bosque's warning
Markarian's opposite number, Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque, was inclined to agree after watching his side lose their 100 per cent record in Group C in Athens, and he issued a stern warning to Panathinaikos' quarter-final opponents. "It is not easy to play against Panathinaikos," he said. "They are very strong at home and are capable of doing damage when they play away."

A proud coach
"We are very pleased with our teams perfomance, not just tonight but during the whole tournament so far because we have managed to win the most points and score the most goals up until now," he added.

Praise for the debutant
Del Bosque also picked out goalscoring substitute Javier Garcia Portillo who capped his Champions League debut with a stunning goal for Madrid to make it 2-2. "The youngster took advantage of the opportunity we gave him and he scored a superb goal," said the coach. "I was not astonished by that because he has been in the young Madrid teams since he was eleven and he has been scoring every Sunday ever since."

Quarter-final prospects
As his thoughts moved on to the impending quarter-final draw, Del Bosque refused to be drawn on who his preferred opponents would be. However, he made one thing clear - he did not want his side to come up against RC Deportivo La Coruña just yet. "I would rather not play Deportivo because they are a difficult team to play against and I would like to see the Spanish teams advance to the semi-finals," he said.

'Let it be United'
Markarian was a little more positive in his choice of opponents. "I would like to play against the best and the best are Manchester United [FC]," he said with a wry smile. "It is a dream of mine and a dream of Giorgios Karagounis. If we cannot avoid playing against one of the greats, let it be United because they have the best players in the world."