Lacombe praises team spirit

I studied Sporting a lot and that was why we started the match with five defenders. My idea was not to concede a goal, but once we scored after two minutes, my players understood perfectly what they had to do. It was very good to win here against a team that have the best attack in the Portuguese championship. We won because we defended well and showed great team spirit. At the same time I am a bit disappointed that we didn't advance to the next phase, but we still have a good chance of doing that in our last match against Panionios which I am sure will be a very interesting match. Sochaux coach Guy Lacombe

Sochaux are very good at defending and then counterattacking. We knew that, but after they scored in the second minute, that made things even harder for us. We tried, but they didn't give us any space, and without space we couldn't create anything. The fact that this was our third match in seven days also contributed to our lack of pace. We dominated the entire second half but we weren't able to score. We worked hard so I think the result is unfair, but I still think we will qualify because we have a big advantage on goal difference and still have a chance of finishing first if we win at Newcastle. Sporting coach José Peseiro

I had told my players that it would be a difficult match. We were taken by surprise in the first half and conceded a goal out of the blue. Both teams were mediocre at that time. But we had a talk during half-time and my players understood what they had to do and they kept the pressure up until the end. The match was like Russian roulette during the second half. We had to attack with all our forces and that left our defence vulnerable. Thank God, our goalkeeper [Jaroslav Drobný] had a fantastic match. I would like to ask our fans to be patient, because we are building a team for the next four years. In my opinion [Evagelos] Mantzios is one of the greatest talents in Greece. As for the match against Sochaux in France, it will be like a final. Panionios coach Georgios Vazakas

We had chances to score when the score was 2-2, but my players lack experience and they could not think clearly in front of goal. Georgios Vazakas made a smart move when he introduced [Mário] Breška as a third striker for Panionios. We made the same move later in the match, when the odds were against us. I substituted [César] Romero because he was recovering from an injury and not fully fit. Dinamo Tbilisi coach George Geguchadze