Udinese's Floro Flores invigorated by overdue goal

After ending months of injury frustration with a UEFA Europa League goal on his first start of the season, a delighted Antonio Floro Flores told UEFA.com "he felt alive again" on a night when Udinese Calcio struck twice late on to beat Club Atlético de Madrid 2-0 and go three points clear in Group I. Visiting forward Diego, meanwhile, refused to look for excuses despite his team dominating possession.

Antonio Floro Flores, Udinese striker
I'm happy because it's the first time I've set foot on the pitch from the start in months. Merely playing was really satisfying, so to score as well means I couldn't have got off to a better start. I missed one early on but I didn't worry about it because when you get to 28 you don't think about it, you just act. I hope I made the coach, team-mates, club and fans happy with my performance. After so long on the sidelines I needed this; I feel alive again and I'm really happy.

They're a really good side who play nice football and give you hardly any opportunities to score, but I think we created the better chances. The last time I played was for Genoa months ago, so now I'm off to celebrate with my family. It's the second time I've started a match in the Europa League and the second time I've scored, so I must bring luck. It's a shame we didn't make the Champions League; who knows what I might have done then?

Samir Handanovič, Udinese goalkeeper
It went well. We were a bit off-colour in the first half, we weren't exactly at our best, but then in the second half we improved and got the three points. It's another case of late goals but in the end it doesn't matter when you score as long as somebody does.

Atlético are a good side. They pass the ball around really well and are good in possession, you can see they have some great players. We suffered a bit but in the end we came through and finished sharply. We're well placed at the top of the group and we're well on course to qualify. But there are still three matches left, plenty of hard work ahead, but so far so good.

Diego, Atlético forward
We played really well in the first half, but we lacked Udinese's efficiency in front of goal. When Italian teams sit back and play on the counterattack it can be annoying, but only because we weren't good enough to score. We created more than enough chances in the first half but we didn't score and that was the problem.

Pizzi, Atlético midfielder
The ball just didn't want to go in, but we're calm about it because with hard work we know we can still qualify. I think we dominated and at the very least deserved a point. To concede two goals was harsh and we're disappointed, but we just have to take it on the chin and keep going. In Madrid we're sure the match will be very different. We know we can win that and if we get three points we'll forget about tonight's sad outcome.