Coaches acclaim Senna influence

Both Gordon Strachan and Manuel Pellegrini lauded the performance of Villarreal CF midfielder Marcos Senna after the Spanish international capped an inspirational performance with the only goal of the game against Celtic FC in Group E. Pellegrini felt the margin of victory should have been greater for his side given their dominance while Strachan remained optimistic that the Scottish outfit can still qualify after witnessing a vast improvement by his team on their travels. The Hoops are on the road again next time out at Manchester United FC in three weeks' time, when Villarreal entertain Aalborg BK.

Manuel Pellegrini, Villarreal coach 
It was tough to win but I have to say the final score doesn't reflect what happened on the pitch tonight. Celtic tried to stop us attacking and then counterattack themselves but it didn't work out for them and they weren't much of a threat to us. We could have scored more goals and I repeat the final score doesn't do us justice. Marcos Senna is a great player and he's in excellent form and he scored for us tonight. He's part of a team and obviously he stands out as an individual player. There are still 12 points at stake so we haven't guaranteed a spot in the next round. Celtic and Aalborg have lost points tonight but there's a lot to fight for still.

Gordon Strachan, Celtic manager 
In the first half our performance was excellent and we were comfortable at the back. After the 55th minute it became more of a problem for us and Villarreal forced us back. It's something we have to improve. The match didn't go as we expected but we can't feel ashamed of the match tonight. We played against one of the best teams in Europe. My substitutions worked well because they created problems for the Villarreal defence. It's the first time I have liked what I was seeing away from home though. We'll see how our next matches go but tonight we played more comfortably away from home than we have done in a long time. We don't know if it was a foul or not which brought the free-kick but in any case it ended up in a goal – Marcos Senna is a world-class player.