Olaroiu lauds 'fantastic' Steaua

FC Steaua Bucuresti coach Cosmin Olaroiu hailed the Romanian club's emphatic 4-1 victory at FC Dynamo Kyiv as a "fantastic night" as they marked their return to the UEFA Champions League in style after a ten-year absence. it was a performance that left Dynamo Kyiv counterpart Anatoli Demianenko with no excuses for the Group E defeat.

Cosmin Olaroiu, Steaua coach
It was a fantastic night for the club. We made our debut in the Champions League and were keen to give a good account of ourselves. We were looking to win but never expected to do so quite that convincingly. I am delighted with my players; they overcame very strong opponents on their own pitch. We studied Dynamo carefully and how they play and my players were charged with the task of hindering their plan. And it worked. It was a bright night for us while for the hosts it will go down as a black night - but that happens in football.

Anatoli Demianenko, Dynamo Kyiv coach
We were terrible in defence and made a lot of mistakes. I can't really explain what happened - we need to sit down and analyse things. It's difficult to understand why our players didn't do what they were told to and instead attacked too much, forgetting their defensive duties. We had a number of injured players, which affected our preparation, yet this is no excuse. We cannot say that we underestimated our opponents either, we knew they were UEFA Cup semi-finalists.