Upbeat Fink hands credit to Roma

Following a 3-2 defeat which leaves his team bottom of UEFA Champions League Group E, FC Basel 1893 coach Thorsten Fink paid tribute to the "tremendous quality" of his side's conquerors, AS Roma. The visitors, who resisted a spirited second-half fightback from the hosts, are up to second after what coach Claudio Ranieri described as a very "difficult game".

Thorsten Fink, Basel coach
I don't think we were second best tonight, Roma just had tremendous quality. We started well but were not focused for one second and conceded a goal − that's how it goes in the Champions League. The team twice showed a great reaction and we had chances to get an equaliser until the latter stages. I said before the match that we are the underdogs yet it was a close affair. Now we need to beat CFR Cluj and then we should get third place.

Claudio Ranieri, Roma coach
We played pretty well in the first half after conceding the first 20 minutes to Basel. We started to dominate in midfield and the squad showed great spirit. In the second half we found it hard to cope with Basel's attacking verve; we didn't slow the tempo of the game and that was a mistake. [Jérémy] Menez acted as a central attacking midfielder because it was difficult for him to play the ball as two players were always marking him. Therefore, I opted to let Basel play on the flanks and try to hit them down the central part of the pitch. The team played well, especially in the first half. It was a difficult game and we suffered a lot, but in the end we got the three points.