Prandelli delighted with Viola progress

Cesare Prandelli said ACF Fiorentina will look forward to returning to the UEFA Cup "with great enthusiasm" after their 1-0 win against FC Steaua Bucureşti confirmed third place in Group F, while his opposite number Dorinel Munteanu looked back on "a good experience" in the UEFA Champions League for his side.

Cesare Prandelli, Fiorentina coach
We really wanted to qualify for the UEFA Cup, we needed a good result here and we earned it. My players did very well, especially in the second half. We had a bit of luck compared to our other games in the group stage. I have always believed in this team and I think we still have plenty of room for improvement. In the last few games we really played like a team. It was very important to reach our goal tonight.

We had a good experience in the UEFA Cup last season [reaching the semi-finals] and we will return to that tournament with great enthusiasm. I have no regrets even if we probably threw away two important points in the first game in Lyon. We were leading 2-0 with a few minutes remaining but we returned home with just one point. If we had started with a win the whole campaign would probably have been different, but there are no "ifs" in football.

Dorinel Munteanu, Steaua coach
I think Fiorentina played a good game even if we managed to keep them at bay for most of the match. Both sides were really determined to win and qualify for the UEFA Cup, unfortunately they scored and we didn't. However, I think this has been a good experience for Steaua. I think Fiorentina can go a long way in the UEFA Cup.