Spalletti defiant after stalemate

AS Roma coach Luciano Spalletti and his Olympique Lyonnais counterpart Gérard Houllier were both quietly satisfied after a goalless draw at the Stadio Olimpico left their UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie finely poised ahead of the second leg in France in a fortnight.

Luciano Spalletti, Roma coach
We had a few problems at the start of the match because we didn't immediately come to terms with the way to play to challenge Lyon. The game was open, there were a lot of scoring chances for both sides, and I'm largely satisfied with how my team played. We didn't keep the ball very well but we played well enough. The draw is not a bad result for us, even if we are going to play the second leg away from home. That doesn't matter too much at this level.

Gérard Houllier, Lyon coach
The result is a fair one. It was a typical Champions League game between two teams who tested each other out and were evenly matched. We had 16 shots on goal and hit the post and I think overall the Roma goalkeeper was more involved than Grégory Coupet. I'm satisfied with the score and for me, it's a step forward towards the quarter-finals.

Mancini, Roma midfielder
We didn't play as well as we would have liked but give credit to Lyon - they played a very good match and have a lot of experience at this level. We didn't create too many chances as we couldn't get very close to their goal but I also think it was a psychological problem as before the kick-off we knew it was the 'game of our lives'. I'm confident we can still go through even if we know we will have to play better than tonight if we are to score in Lyon.

Juninho Pernambucano, Lyon midfielder
Congratulations to Roma, it's a fair result. The pitch was good, much better than we have experienced in France over the last few weeks. We didn't attack too much because we didn't want to give them any chances to score.