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Joyous LOSC lay down new roots

"We've made ourselves at home," declared Dimitri Payet after LOSC Lille christened their new stadium with an extra-time defeat of FC København that sealed a group stage place.

Joyous LOSC lay down new roots
Joyous LOSC lay down new roots ©UEFA.com

"We've made ourselves at home in our new stadium," enthused LOSC Lille forward Dimitri Payet after his side claimed a UEFA Champions League group stage place at the end of an emotional evening at the Grand Stade Lille Métropole.

Making their European debut at their splendid new venue, the hosts required an extra-time header from Túlio De Melo to seal a 2-0 play-off success and finally see off FC København. Visiting goalkeeper Johan Wiland spoke of "a whole different game" to the first leg – which the Danish club won 1-0.

Dimitri Payet, LOSC forward
We were determined to change the direction of the tie after the first leg, when we were lacking in a lot of departments. Tonight we played well at both ends and in the tackles, so it's logical that we qualified. We had to be patient, we knew that if we scored once we'd have extra time and perhaps penalties in order to qualify, so we were patient and we were rewarded for our efforts. We worked very hard tonight and we're through.

It's great [to have won this first European match at the new stadium], particularly as it was a very difficult match and there was a lot of pressure surrounding this game. We created a connection with our fans and you could say we've made ourselves at home in our new stadium.

Franck Béria, LOSC defender
It's mission accomplished. This is why we do this job – the emotions are intense because this is the best-case scenario. Next time, we'll try to play well in both games but, joking apart, we're very happy because we had to show that we were the better team.

FCK are a very good team, though – I was impressed by how they didn't panic after going behind. They tried to move up from the back and caused us problems. We had to block the flanks because that's what they're good at – they have strong players on the wings and good crossing ability, and brought on fresh players.

We also tried to make the most of our experience over the last few years because these are matches that are very taxing physically and require you to think. You think that playing at home is an advantage – and it is because of the fans – but you also have to make sure you don't concede.

Our style of play is focused on attack and everyone takes part in attacking moves, but you need to have two or three players to keep things tight at the back and make sure you don't suffer on the counterattack.

Johan Wiland, FCK goalkeeper
We're very disappointed. We tried to come out on the sides [of the pitch] and get some crosses in, and we were a little more successful in the second half than we were in the first. It felt like we were getting into the game more, then they got the goal in extra time. It was a whole different game this time – at Parken, we had more time and more play, and it was a little bit harder to play the kind of game we played last time.

They were a little bit quicker on their feet and made it difficult for us. We had a chance in the first half to get the first goal and we didn't, and then they still had the crowd with them and they forced us a little bit more than they did last time.

Christoffer Remmer, FCK defender
It's unlucky. We had our chances and we knew they'd play differently from the first game and expected them to come at us with a lot of pressure, and we couldn't do more than we did.

We believed in [our chance of qualifying] because we only needed one goal and in the closing stages we had a few chances. We needed a little bit of luck but we were very close. It's a big disappointment. We have six good games to come in the Europa League and we hope to play well in those.

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