Liberec delighted with a ‘great point’ at Sevilla

Having marshalled a doughty rearguard action by FC Slovan Liberec, captain Radoslav Kováč was thrilled with the "great point" the Czech side gained against Sevilla FC. The Spanish team's defender, Cala, bemoaned the hosts' lack of efficiency in front of goal during a 1-1 draw that nonetheless leaves them in a strong position at the top of Group H.

Radoslav Kováč, Liberec defender
It's a really great point because Sevilla are a really top club and a top team. We came here hopeful of picking up a point and so we're very happy. We maybe had to defend 85% of the time as Sevilla are very strong on the ball. Though we were losing 1-0 at half-time we still believed we could score a goal and that's what we did.

[Diego] Perotti is a really good player. He's very quick, technical and skilful and against him you always have to double up: if you go one-on-one with him it's really bad for a defender.

If we win our next game against Freiburg we'll be very close to going through, so we'll give everything we've got to do that. We'll try to enjoy it, but it's a really big game for us, so we just have to give everything.

Cala, Sevilla defender
It's a shame because we dominated the game and created a lot of chances, while they only needed one to take a point from the Sánchez Pizjuán. We stopped them hitting us on the break, we controlled possession and pinned them in their half, but at the moment all our mistakes are punished by goals. We've got to stop letting them in somehow.

I thought it [an added-time header] was going in, but unfortunately it hit the post and went wide. But we're still unbeaten in the Europa League and if we beat Estoril [on 28 November] we'll be through. We want to get back to winning ways to dispel any doubts around the team and to give us all a boost.

Isaac Sackey, Liberec midfielder
It's a great point because Sevilla are a very good club – we fought hard for it. [It was] not an easy game, but we stuck together and did what we'd trained for. Our next game against Freiburg will be easier. I was very happy to play against [José Antonio] Reyes, a Spanish international, and other quality players like that. You can learn a lot from them, it was a fantastic experience.

Stéphane Mbia, Sevilla midfielder
It was really important for us to win this game and take first position, but we ended up missing the chance to do that. We had lots of chances to kill the game off but didn't take them. It's hard to take and everybody's disappointed, but we need to pick ourselves up for our league game this weekend. The atmosphere in the group is still good, but it's tough because we lost our last match here against Celta in a similar way – they only had one chance and won 1-0. It's tough for the fans to take too, but we've got a good squad and we try to give everything and support each other.

I'm having a good time here in Spain with my family. It's my first season here and I'm only on loan, but I'd be happy to stay. We'll have to see what happens at the end of the season, whether QPR want me to come back or not. But I'm happy here, I'd be happy to stay – the weather's much better too, in London it's always raining!

Of course, we're going to qualify from the group. We've got many quality players and we can make it to the next round. This game was difficult to take because we really wanted to win, but we need to focus on our next match and see what happens.

José Antonio Reyes, Sevilla winger
It's disappointing to only draw, especially the way the equaliser arrived: they had one chance and scored it. We dominated from start to finish, but sometimes football isn't fair and today was one of those times. Perotti's free-kick was a great goal, really impressive. All credit to him.