PSV draw no passion-killer for Mutu

Their night may have ended in frustration but the message from the ACF Fiorentina camp after their 1-1 first-leg draw with PSV Eindhoven was a simple one: we're going to Eindhoven to win.

Upbeat
Adrian Mutu put the Viola ahead 56 minutes into the UEFA Cup quarter-final tie in Florence but their lead lasted just seven minutes before Danny Koevermans fired PSV level. It was the first time Fiorentina had failed to win at home in the competition since the first round but despite surrendering their advantage on the night, Mutu was upbeat afterwards when he looked ahead to next Thursday's second leg.

'We've got a chance'
"We've got a chance in the return, I'm sure of that," he said. "We played a great team who play in the Champions League every year but we played well. Now we are positive about going to the Netherlands and giving everything we have got. We believe we can get at least one goal over there."

Lucky break
Mutu added that Fiorentina had struggled to put PSV under any sustained pressure in the first half. "We didn't manage our usual tempo because PSV are very good at keeping the ball," he said. However, they improved after the break even if the Romanian's goal came via a fortunate deflection when goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes blocked his shot only for the ball to rebound off Mutu and roll back into the net. "Gomes knocked the ball against me and the ball went in," he said.

'Difficult but not impossible'
Viola goalkeeper Sébastien Frey had no chance with Koevermans' equalising goal and he admitted Cesare Prandelli's side faced a "difficult" task in Eindhoven. However, like Mutu, he remained positive about their prospects. "We scored a goal and they equalised almost straight away which makes things difficult but not impossible," he said. "They're a good team but we'll give everything over there. Analysing the game tonight, we had more chances. We were waiting to see what they would do but I thought they'd have put us under more pressure than they did."