Vergoossen has cause for regret

It was close enough in the end for KRC Genk to depart the Fenix Stadion harbouring regrets that their first season in the UEFA Champions League had fallen agonisingly short of real achievement.

Bottom side
Their 1-1 draw with Real Madrid CF meant that they finished bottom of Group C and the fact that AEK Athens had not won in Rome left them to reflect that just one more goal would have taken them on into the UEFA Cup competition.

Sonck close again
Scoring a second may represent a tall order for a side who before tonight had found the net just once in five Champions League outings but the truth is Genk had the title holders on the rack in the final minutes and Wesley Sonck almost grabbed a second to add to his 86th-minute equaliser and claim a famous victory.

'Bigger disappointment'
It left Genk coach Sef Vergoossen to state: "The 1-1 scoreline is a bigger disappointment to us when we see that AEK also finished with that score. We had a chance to win and finish third. We really should have had another four to six points from this group."

'Hard and tough'
At least his team earned the praises of Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque, who described the Belgian champions as " a very hard, physical and tough opponent".

Widescale changes
Del Bosque declined to get drawn into a lengthy discussion about Madrid's failure to reach their normal high standards. He could have pointed to his widescale changes which meant only three players survived from the game with AS Roma two weeks ago. Instead he contented himself by saying that with qualification already assured the hard work had been carried out elsewhere, this result ensuring that they clinched first place in a Champions League group for a record seventh time.

Final goal
"Some people might say this was not a very good Real Madrid team but what's important for me is to get to the final" he said. "We qualified and that's the most important thing. In this game we had a total of six real chances and even if we panicked in the last minutes we deserved the 1-1."

Tote scores
Madrid had an uncomfortable start but having survived Genk's initial onslaught they began to string their passes together and impress. They took a 21st-minute lead through Tote, one of three visiting players to be making their bow in this term's competition, after Francisco Pavón had headed back a corner at the far post.

Cruel on Genk
That was cruel on Genk and their frustration grew with their inability to put a finishing touch to a number of dangerous raids. In the second half Fernando Morientes struck a post as Madrid hinted at taking an unassailable lead but Sonck's equaliser gave them a difficult final few minutes to endure.

Risk football
"I was satisfied with our first-half performance and we had four or five good chances" added Vergoossen. "We had to play with a lot of risks, offensively as always, but we also had to keep a good organisation because Real Madrid can always be dangerous."