Pavón praises Bordeaux quality

FC Girondins de Bordeaux coach Michel Pavón praised his team for the quality football they produced en route to the 1-0 away win against Club Brugge KV which sealed a berth in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

Attacking philosophy
Pavón insisted that his charges brought an end to a run of ten consecutive victories for the Belgian side at the Jan Breydelstadion by refusing to play negatively and remaining faithful to a philosophy of attacking football.

Contrasting styles
"This tie was an opposition of styles," Pavón said. "Brugge, with their tall forwards, proceeded to try and win the match almost entirely through punting long passes for their strikers in the box but my shorter players were more technical and put together a lot of combinations."

Deserved victory
Pavón stressed that his team richly deserved the victory. "When you look at the two legs you have to conclude that Bordeaux thoroughly deserved to qualify," he said. "Tonight especially, we played a very good European game. We didn't try and defend our two-goal advantage and always attempted to go forward."

Young side
He went on: "I have to congratulate my young team for the standard of football they produced. My defenders were less physically imposing than the Brugge attackers but we managed to dominate them in the air. For the next round, I have no particular preference which team we face. Valencia [CF] or Gençlerbirligi [SK]; it doesn’t matter."

First-leg failure
Brugge coach Trond Sollied, meanwhile, claimed that conceding three second-half goals in the away leg in France was the reason for his team’s failure to progress. The Belgian side were leading 1-0 at the Chaban-Delmas courtesy of a goal from Gert Verheyen but a double from Albert Celades and an additional late strike from Albert Riera changed the complexion of the encounter entirely.

'Not our night'
"There's no doubt that we lost this when we were 1-0 up with just 30 minutes left of the match in France," he said. "We should have held on at that point but were unable to do so and that’s where the problem was. Today we tried hard but it just wasn’t our evening."

Total admiration
Sollied, though, was full of admiration for his opponents, highlighting they way they pressurised his team at every opportunity and never let them settle in front of their notoriously vociferous fans. "My players struggled to contend with Bordeaux's pressing game, particularly. In the end, we resorted to long balls but the French side came out on top in that department. They didn't give us any space and we missed too many crosses."