Mitroglou and Cardozo content with draw

After a night of torrential rain in Lisbon tested SL Benfica and Olympiacos FC's footballing skills to the limit, both teams were relatively happy to take a point ahead of renewing their Group C rivalry in Greece in a fortnight. The hosts' Óscar Cardozo believed his 34th goal in UEFA club competition "could turn out to be important", while the visitors' outstanding performer Kostas Mitroglou praised his side's "great effort".

Óscar Cardozo, Benfica forward
This was a game in which we expected a lot of difficult moments. Olympiacos are a very good team and they caused us a lot of problems. That said, I think we had the best opportunities and deserved to win, despite their excellent performance. The rain made it difficult to play our football. We are a very technical team and we were forced to hit the ball towards the penalty area, particularly in the second half, which made the job easier for their defence. The draw does not affect our hopes, because there are still three games to go. I am happy with my goal, having helped us get a point which could turn out to be important.

Kostas Mitroglou, Olympiacos forward
We played very well, I think. We did exactly what our coach asked and it was a great effort. The right result would have been a victory for us, but now we will just keep trying to qualify for the last 16. I am pleased not just with my performance but with that of the whole team. We are very happy. Being the first Greek player to score a hat-trick in the UEFA Champions League [against RSC Anderlecht on matchday two] was very important for me, but I am not dwelling on it. I want to keep going and to score more. I believe the return will be a different match – at home we have our fans together and behind us, so we will be stronger.

Delvin N'Dinga, Olympiacos midfielder
It was a really difficult match, especially given the conditions – it rained a lot. It was the same for both teams though. You had to play it forward, keep your balance and be prepared to battle. We tried to fight to the end. In the end, we took a point away from home, which is not a bad result at all. It is a bit disappointing though – if we had concentrated a little more in the second half, we had some good counterattacks and we could have scored again. We are going to play hard in the return match. It will be in front of our fans and we have learned a bit about how they play. We are going to do everything to take the three points.