Cabella lauds Montpellier's powers of recovery

Rémy Cabella described Montpellier Hérault SC's first UEFA Champions League point as "a beautiful thing" after the Ligue 1 side's nail-biting 2-2 draw at FC Schalke 04. Souleymane Camara scored a last-gasp equaliser despite Garry Bocaly's 52nd-minute dismissal, and Schalke pair Lars Unnerstall and Benedikt Höwedes unsurprisingly sounded a sombre note for a draw that "feels like a defeat".

Rémy Cabella, Montpellier midfielder
We started well and the first goal helped get us into the game. We were pegged back and finished with ten men, but we never let it drop and it's a beautiful thing to have picked up a point, the first for the club. Even when we went down to ten men, I always believed. I knew that we had the ability to do that, and we showed it at the end.

These are the sorts of matches you learn a lot from, in a stadium that you don't know well, and it's a completely different level of football. We won last week, we wanted to get a good result here – we've done that – and we want to continue that on Saturday. Results like this give us ideas. We're not just here to make up the numbers. We're going to play as we know how and try and get ourselves something.

Garry Bocaly, Montpellier defender
It's really a good point. You've got to emphasise the team spirit, because it's great to have taken a point here, especially as we were down to ten men. We now have to build on it with the two games against Olympiacos. When I was sent off, I thought about my team-mates, that I was leaving them in a difficult situation.

I heard the roar afterwards so I knew they'd scored the penalty. We're happy to have got a point, that's what we came for. It's a good thing for the remainder of the competition. It's our first point in the Champions League. We're going to sleep well tonight and enjoy it. Psychologically, it's a huge boost to get a point here, particularly as we were down to ten men for practically an entire half.

Lars Unnerstall, Schalke goalkeeper
It feels like a defeat, exactly like on Friday in Düsseldorf. We had the lead, but it has again ended up 2-2. It really is quite a disappointment. It's important that in such situations you score a third goal, which saps your opponents' determination and means they don't believe they can snatch something at the end.

The problem for us is that we didn't do that and the result is there for everyone to see. We played well going forward and then stupidly got caught on the counterattack. We're going to have to live with that. Now we go to Arsenal. They have six points and will be very confident going into the game. However, if we stay compact, we have a chance of getting something.

Benedikt Höwedes, Schalke defender
It's exceptionally disappointing that we're going through the same experience in the space of a few days. Today was even more disappointing because the equaliser came almost in added time. We weren't able to capitalise on the chances we had. We now have to get this out of our system and look forward.

We're all disappointed because we definitely could have had more than a point, but we mustn't let our heads drop. We're still in a good position. Today we could have made a big step forward along with Arsenal, but there are no pushovers in the Champions League. Every game is incredibly difficult and you're immediately punished for every mistake.