Chamakh celebrates 'beautiful' feat

The FC Girondins de Bordeaux players breathed a collective sigh of relief after edging through to the European Champion Clubs' Cup quarter-finals for the first time in more than two decades thanks to a narrow victory against Olympiacos FC.

Marouane Chamakh's late goal sealed the French side's seventh straight victory in the competition and added gloss to the triumph, yet the 3-1 aggregate scoreline hardly tells the whole tale. When home captain Alou Diarra received his marching orders in the 68th minute, the Greek visitors – reduced to ten men themselves by Matt Derbyshire's earlier dismissal – needed just one more goal to qualify.

Les Marine et Blanc hung on with some difficulty before Chamakh's 88th-minute intervention calmed nerves and ensured the French champions joined Olympique Lyonnais in the last eight. Chamakh could barely hide his joy but admitted the hosts had been given a real scare, telling UEFA.com: "We've had to suffer a lot, so now we are going to savour the moment. It wasn't at all easy, especially in the second half, but it's fantastic to be in the quarter-finals. I'm so happy for the club, the town, my family and the fans. It's really beautiful."

Yoann Gourcuff had given Bordeaux the ideal start with a sublime free-kick from the left flank that found the top corner, but Kostas Mitroglou's excellent strike on 65 minutes put the Piraeus team on the brink of an unlikely comeback. According to defender Michaël Ciani, Les Girondins had to dig deep to resist the Olympiacos charge.

"We were in difficulty in the second half and had some really awkward moments after Alou Diarra's sending-off," Bordeaux's centre-back explained. "We had to stick together and make sure we defended well. Now we're through, let's try to go as far as possible."

While Bordeaux are into the quarter-finals for the first time since 1988, domestic rivals Lyon will be making their fourth last-eight appearance in seven years. It is the first time two French clubs have reached this stage since 2004, leading Matthieu Chalmé to believe the standard of Ligue 1 is rising.

"It's great to be through with Lyon," said the Bordeaux right-back. "Having two French sides in the last eight is a real source of pride and it shows how competitive the league is now in France. Tonight wasn't at all easy but the important thing was to get through. That's what we've done."