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Grant pays tribute to Terry

Avram Grant oversaw a victory at Valencia CF in his first UEFA Champions League game in charge of Chelsea FC and had special praise for his captain John Terry.

John Terry - in his protective mark - salutes the visiting fans
John Terry - in his protective mark - salutes the visiting fans ©Getty Images

Quique Sánchez Flores, Valencia coach
Like last time one team dominated the first half and the other dominated the second. After the game we have good feelings but a bad result. We could not manage to finish off the game after the first goal, we were better than Chelsea in this phase and it was a shame that we were not winning at the end of the first half. There are lots of reasons in a game why you cannot achieve what you want. It's all about small details and what counts at the end are not statistics but goals. Chelsea managed to neutralise our game and we made two great errors. We could have got the ball back better off their midfielders and we could have done better before [Didier] Drogba got the ball for the second goal.

Avram Grant, Chelsea coach
I have tried with all the staff to tell the players that they are experienced players, they know the game and that they could go out and win. We told them that we all believed in them. I am happy but not surprised – it's the first time we have finished a match recently with all eleven players. Can the fans now forget about José Mourinho? No they cannot. Mourinho did really good things for this team but now I am in charge. It was an easy decision to play John Terry – he plays with all his heart. When you are a captain, a big player, you need to be an example for others and you can’t ask for more of an example than this.