Bento lauds depth of Sporting's challenge

Sporting Clube de Portugal coach Paulo Bento insists his squad have the strength in depth to trouble any side left in the UEFA Champions League after they won 1-0 at FC Basel 1893 in Group C. The hosts' coach, Christian Gross, felt the scoreline was a harsh reflection on his charges' endeavour, but accepted that they have simply been outclassed at times in the competition.

Paulo Bento, Sporting coach
The 1-0 result is a good one for us. In the first half we were the better team; we should have scored more than once and our defence had nothing to do. In the second half it was harder for us to play a direct game as Basel were a lot better but the final scoreline was a just result. I'm really satisfied with the work of my young team. The depth of quality we have allowed us to make some changes without dropping our standard.

We have played a good group-stage campaign. We wanted to score goals in every match and that's what we did. The two matches against Barcelona don't count. In the remainder of the competition we will present serious opponents for every team, even if we aren't favourites – I'm not waiting for a special team to play against.

Christian Gross, Basel coach
We'd have preferred to finish the competition with some more points but we have been in a really tough group. Today we deserved more, especially because of the strong second-half performance, so the result is not okay for me. We were playing with a number of young players from our youth team and I'm happy to see the team developing. Matches in the UEFA Champions League have helped us improve but, at the same time, we are able to see what we can and cannot do. The Champions League has improved and become a lot stronger over the past few years.

One of our weak points has been the lack of a final pass in the last 25 metres. Furthermore, we were not dangerous at all with set-piece situations. In the defensive area we have to work harder to avoid mistakes like Sporting's goal. We are disappointed now – anything else would be a surprise – but the Champions League is really attractive for us and we hope to be part of it again next season. For Sporting, anything is possible in the next round. They are really dangerous down the wings and can be in the competition for a long time.