AEK savour their Madrid fightback

AEK Athens FC coach Dusan Bajevic described his side's 2-2 draw in the Santiago Bernabéu stadium as "a historic result" and believes it will prove crucial to their hopes of qualifying for the second group stage of the UEFA Champions League.

Injection of pace
The Yugoslavian explained that in the first half, when Real Madrid CF seized a two-goal lead, his team had been too slow and he looked to inject pace in the second half. "It worked very well," said Bajevic. "I tried to put Ilija Ivic up against Roberto Carlos to give him problems. And I think he surprised Real Madrid."

Hopes boosted

Qualifying dream
"Real Madrid are one of the strongest teams in the world and it is very important for our confidence to have obtained something positive. I expect to maintain it over the next weeks. We can now dream about qualifying and I think we can get it if we continue working and fighting as we have done tonight."

'AEK deserved it'
Madrid coach Vicente del Bosque congratulated AEK on the draw which was secured by Costa Rican Walter Centeno's goal with four minutes remaining. "I think AEK have done a very good job and they deserved it," he said. "We were a little tired in the closing minutes. My players were too self-confident, they relaxed a little and AEK took advantage."

Confident coach

'Lot of problems'

McManaman takes his chance

'In our hands'
The disappointing result follows Madrid's league defeat by Racing Santander last weekend but Del Bosque said: "We have to stay calm. We will be able to play very important matches this season and qualification is in our hands."