Jardim savours 'vital victory' at Montpellier

Leonardo Jardim, Olympiacos coach
Tonight's result is very important for us. Despite a good performance in England against Arsenal we failed to gain any points, so it was vital for us to record this victory in a very tough away match. I hope this marks the beginning.

I said yesterday that a win tonight would allow us to fight for our main goal: to qualify for the UEFA Champions League knockout stages. Having that win in the bag now, we will continue to work towards that. It's ideal to combine a fine performance with a good result, but that also depends on the opponents.

We always try to play attractive football, but our main focus is getting the result, the points, the victories. We knew Montpellier were going through a rough patch in their league, therefore today's match would be important.

They were better in the first half and put in a lot of effort – that perhaps cost them, because their intensity after the break gradually faded. We did the reverse: we were not that good in the first half but improved considerably in the second and managed to get the victory.

René Girard, Montpellier coach
If you want to be a nice guy you can draw positives. I could be so kind about our game tonight. Our problem this season is efficiency, particularly our defensive efficiency. Tonight, once again, we provided a demonstration of what not to do in this area. We conceded the winner very late on, the goal that was the difference between the sides; and we also conceded from a set piece. We were not focused. Otherwise, our first half was good; much better than the second.