Away cheer for cup hopefuls

* FC Basel 1893 0-0 LOSC Lille Métropole
It was a good match, the only thing missing were the goals. We created a few good chances which is never easy against a team that concedes so little. We need to improve next Thursday if we're going to reach the next round. Christian Gross, Basel coach

It was a tough match as Basel had a consistent threat in attack. The second leg looks difficult for both teams. For me, it remains 50-50 although the pressure will be more on Basel. Claude Puel, Lille coach

* CSKA Moskva 2-0 SL Benfica
It was a very tough game, and given that we are still not fully prepared for the new season the result is good - 2-0 is a good scoreline to take to Lisbon although nothing is decided yet. The good thing is that we will be improving physically with every match. Valeri Gazzaev, CSKA coach

We dominated possession and territory and had more chances, while CSKA had two openings and scored with both. It was hard to run on such a pitch and our tactics did not work. Giovanni Trapattoni, Benfica coach

* FC Dynamo Kyiv 0-0 Villarreal CF
It was hard to play a team who had much better match fitness than us. The pitch did not let us use our pace, and I can't be happy with a draw knowing what kind of match we are facing away from home. Still, we did half the job by keeping a clean sheet. Jozsef Szabo, Dynamo coach

We are happy with our performance but, in terms of draws, we would have preferred 1-1 or 2-2. There were enough chances for that. Still, I think it will be easier for us at home and our chances of progressing have slightly increased. Manuel Pellegrini, Villarreal coach

* Fenerbahçe 0-1 Zaragoza
I see this tie as one match and we lost the first half 1-0. We could not create many chances today, and we couldn't score the ones we had either. At set-pieces the luck was just not on our side. Zaragoza got their goal but they did not create much apart from that. At this level, a team should not waste possession and the percentage of our completed passes should have been higher. But I think we will play better in Spain because Marco Aurélio will be back. Christoph Daum, Fenerbahçe coach

My players gave all they had. We were very well organised. Fenerbahçe have good players and we took measures to neutralise this - in addition to our regular defensive set-up, I installed one player in front of them to block the Fenerbahçe attacks. Avoiding an early goal made it easier for us. Víctor Muñoz, Zaragoza coach

* Grazer AK 2-2 Middlesbrough FC
Congratulations to my team. It was a great job. We missed some chances in the first half but it was definitely a step forward. We didn't know where we stood before this match. Now I can say we are strong. This gives us hope for the league which starts again this weekend. Walter Schachner, GAK coach

If we want to go far in Europe then we need to defend a lot better than we did. We might have settled for a draw before the game, but the way it went, the way we played and dominated for long periods, it's disappointing to come away with a 2-2 draw. I thought we looked good for the majority of the game, but after our second goal we had a spell where they just launched a few balls and we struggled. Steve McClaren, Middlesbrough manager

* Heerenveen 1-2 Newcastle
It was a good match tonight but it went on too long for us. We had no power left in the second half. We played our best football, were well organised and had chances, but Newcastle are a clever team and after they equalised it was over for us. Although we deserved better, we were not good enough to beat Newcastle but that's football - the better team didn't win. Gertjan Verbeek, Heerenveen coach

We needed to put ourselves in a position where we can go through in the home leg and we have done that. We are not through and will not be taking Heerenveen lightly. We will treat them with respect. They were very well organised and put in quality crosses, especially from the right winger Yildirim. They are good enough to come back but we are in a strong position. Alan Murray, Newcastle assistant coach

* Olympiacos 1-0 FC Sochaux-Montbéliard
It was a very tough game that got more complicated due to the rain. In the first half, we played well and could have scored more goals. We knew that Sochaux were dangerous opponents, especially away from home. To concede space to such teams is a major mistake and that was evident in the second half, where we didn't defend properly and some of our players looked tired. We rode our luck at times. Olympiacos coach Dusan Bajevic

The first half-hour was very tough - we were playing against Olympiacos and their crowd. This atmosphere was too much for my players who were intimidated. I have only seen such fans in Saint-Etienne, Marseille and in our away match against Dortmund. It seemed as if the fans were practising voodoo to keep the ball away from their goal. We had four clear-cut chances to their one. Sochaux coach Guy Lacombe

* TSV Alemannia Aachen 0-0 AZ Alkmaar
We saw a terrific 0-0, although a 2-2 or a 2-1 would have been better. I am proud of my team for showing character. They responded after they had been criticised recently. Dieter Hecking, Aachen coach

We were put under pressure and could not play our usual game. They would do well in our Eredivisie. Towards the end the pressure faded and we created chances. I am happy with the 0-0, but it is dangerous. If Aachen score, we have to score twice. Co Adriaanse, Alkmaar coach