Málaga have Moutinho's full attention

While wanting FC Porto to "go as far as possible" in the UEFA Champions League, João Moutinho told UEFA.com he and his team-mates are not looking beyond their return encounter with Málaga CF.

The midfielder's 56th-minute strike in the first leg, a smart finish from left-back Alex Sandro's inviting delivery, ended the Spanish side's eight-match unbeaten record in their debut campaign in Europe's premier club competition. Though that put Vítor Pereira's team in the ascendancy in the round of 16 tie, Moutinho knows the scale of the challenge that awaits them on Wednesday at La Rosaleda – from where AC Milan and FC Zenit St Petersburg left empty-handed in the group stage.

"We must take it match by match," said the 26-year-old Portuguese international. "As I said, we all have the ambition to win the Champions League. Anyone who is at this stage has a desire to go as far as possible, but we're not thinking further than the game against Málaga. That would be a mistake, because they're extremely difficult to beat and will be doing everything they can to go through."

Qualification in southern Spain would mean the Estádio do Dragão outfit not only feature in the quarter-finals for the second time since José Mourinho's men went all the way in 2004, but also continue their development under the tutelage of Pereira, appointed in summer 2011.

"Everything he has done has been right," said Moutinho. "He has been passing on all his knowledge. He's someone we already knew, as the assistant of André Villas-Boas, so him knowing us, us knowing him, allowed us to immediately become champions in our first year together.

"Our and his ambition grows every day and this season we want more," the former Sporting Clube de Portugal playmaker added. "We want to become champions again and we want to go as far as possible in the Champions League."

Click on the video above to hear more from Moutinho.