Nani says Sporting practice paid off

• Sporting win another eventful game against Schalke to go third in Group G
• Nani says hard work on training ground paid off in Lisbon
• Marco Silva grateful for Nani's "huge influence" on the team
• Klaas-Jan Huntelaar acknowledges Schalke "are making life difficult for ourselves"
• Next games: Sporting v Maribor, Schalke v Chelsea (25 November)

Nani, Sporting forward
It was a good match. We managed to put into practice what we were doing in training. We wanted to win, score goals and put on a good show. That was what happened and we managed to take the three points. The team is back to winning ways; now we want to build on the positive work and show the same mentality in the more difficult games ahead.

I'm happy with my goal and performance. It's always important at these times to help the team and score goals. I'm very happy to know I am contributing a lot to the positive results of the team and I hope to continue like this, giving joy to my colleagues, because they are the ones who help me on a day-to-day basis. Tonight I was able to repay them.

We knew this match was very important. It was almost decisive; we had to win. We won and now we are still in the fight. We have to approach the next matches in the same way.

Paulo Oliveira, Sporting defender
When we conceded the first goal, we had to stay together to try and overturn the score, and that was what happened. It's always important to win, even more so in this competition and against such strong opposition. Our levels of confidence are back to normal. We have quality, but we can't afford to rest on our laurels after this win, we have to keep working hard.

Marco Silva, Sporting coach
It was a fair win. We were the better team. Once again, in an even match, an own goal went against us but the team showed character. After conceding, we reacted and managed to equalise.

We produced a great first half, with good moves and playing with a smile. We had more chances but, even when on top, we couldn't get ahead. Winning was all that mattered, we were organised and well positioned.

We didn't allow Schalke to counterattack and we managed to get to 3-1 with two great goals from two good moves. Then Schalke scored again, a goal we couldn't afford to concede. We could have crumbled a bit – and they started to believe, hitting long balls forward – but happily we got to 4-2.

[On Nani] Good players always have a big influence. Nani, big player that he is, has a major influence, as he would in any team. At the level he is now, he has a huge influence.

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Schalke forward
It was a difficult match for us. We could have created more opportunities but we didn't play that well. At the end of the day we lost 4-2. We conceded seven goals to Sporting over two games and that is way too much.

We are making life difficult for ourselves. We play Chelsea at home and we have to get a result against them, while Sporting are at home to Maribor. Of course it's possible to go through but it won't be easy now. We have to work on lots of things before the next game against Chelsea. We have to work on everything.

Benedikt Höwedes, Schalke defender
We said we would almost be qualified with a win. With a draw, we would have kept Sporting at a safe distance. But the defeat tonight was the worst-case scenario. Everything is still possible, but we have made it more difficult for ourselves.

I don't think either side played their best 90 minutes. In the first half we were well organised and luckily took the lead with an own goal. Then we were under too much pressure, Sporting pressing more and more in attack.

Bad one-on-one situations on our part led to easy goals. We were disorganised in midfield, didn't track our players and focused too much on the ball. That's why we lost control a bit at the back. We clearly were out of position. In the second half we played better at the start and created some chances that we didn't take, unfortunately.

We paid for our individual defensive mistakes and we need to deal with that. We must now try to win points against Maribor and Chelsea if we want to qualify. I'm convinced things will be better than the defeat we had tonight.

Roberto Di Matteo, Schalke coach
The first half was even and we had chances. Sporting's second goal involved some luck, yet our defence should have done more. There were unfortunate situations. We then tried to equalise but we failed – and the game was decided by a set piece. The group is the same as before. We have chances to finish second. Everything is possible.

Our approach depends more on the opponents. We should have defended better for their second goal and we weren't effective there. For the third goal, we were trying to score. We need time.