EL: All my respect to Ferencváros – Manuel Pellegrini

"Based on the 90 minutes, I'm not satisfied with the game we're playing," Ferencváros head coach Peter Stöger said. "The match started terribly at the home of a strong team. It was difficult to catch up to them, but in the first half, our attack was good. We forced our opponent to make a mistake, we had opportunities, but scoring goals was a problem again. In the second half, we wanted to continue what we had started, but we conceded another goal early on. The better team won."

Even after the home game against Celtic, FTC was at a disadvantage after a few minutes, which is not easy to explain, Stöger says.

"Before the game, we dwelt on the need to defend and attack with concentration from the first minute, but we made mistakes, we made bad decisions in defense. Betis needed to earn points, their players put a lot of pressure on us at the start of the match, which we didn't know what to do with," Stöger continued. "The second goal sealed our fate, and it took away our confidence. We tried to defend effectively, have counterattacks, and earn free kicks, but when an opponent like that leads by two, we can't play perfectly. Our team lacks in how to control a situation like this. I'm a little disappointed that we conceded goals from careless mistakes, but the team worked hard for 90 minutes, so it cannot leave a bad taste in my mouth.”

"I have a positive opinion of what we've seen. We performed well, and sometimes, we played well," Betis head coach Manuel Pellegrini said. "I am very happy that we scored two goals and we can continue in the next round. I can't go past Sergio Canales' goal without saying a word: he scored a beautiful goal, and he played excellently throughout the match.”

"Today was not an easy victory, the Hungarian team performed very well," continued the Spanish team's trainer. "We lost a lot of balls in the first half, but I have to say that we defended well. We didn't give up on our performance even when we were in the lead, so we deserved the win. Ferencváros has proven today that they have good footballers, they played close games as a team in Leverkusen and against Celtic, so all my respect to them!"

Pellegrini is also aiming for the best position possible in the Europa League, but the sequel lies in the future: "I can't say whom I would want to play the most in the next round. For now, we're just concentrating on our next challenge this weekend."

Translated by: Vanda Orosz