Basel fall short of Marque's mark

FC Basel 1893 defender François Marque told uefa.com the Swiss league leaders had failed to show their true worth as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat by FC Shakhtar Donetsk in Group C on Tuesday.

'Timid start'
The French centre-back conceded the free-kick that saw Fernandinho blast the visitors in front at St. Jakob-Park before Jadson gave the Ukrainian champions a 2-0 half-time lead. David Abraham's stoppage-time goal was scant consolation for Marque, who admitted he and his team-mates had not played to their full potential. "We were a little bit timid at the start, and we were under pressure," the 25-year-old told uefa.com. "In the first half, we were not in it at all. We responded a little in the second half, we were a little less under pressure than we had been. A match like that, though, where we didn't really show what we're capable of, there's nothing really positive to take from it – but we just have to look forward now."

Shortcomings
Playing their first UEFA Champions League campaign for six years, Christian Gross's side struggled to contain the flair packed within the Shakhtar team as Jadson in particular found space and time at will. The visitors passed up several chances to give the scoreline a more flattering gloss, but Marque insisted Basel's shortcomings had played as much a role in their defeat as Shakhtar's strengths. "It's the Champions League, and Shakhtar have a lot of experience in it. We weren't surprised by them. We simply didn't play as well as we can – that's obvious," he said. "We didn't put them under pressure, which gave them a chance to play."

Severe blow
With Sporting Clube de Portugal and FC Barcelona also in the section, the defeat is a severe blow to Basel's ambitions of emulating their run to the last 16 of the 2002/03 competition. Gross's squad now head to Lisbon where they lost 2-0 in bowing out of last season's UEFA Cup. "All the matches are going to be very difficult," said Marque, who refused to contemplate the prospect that one of the two qualifying berths for the knockout phase was already out of reach. "We're not thinking about that for the moment. We've got to take the games as they come and we've got Sporting next."