Almeida cautious ahead of Beşiktaş' Braga return

Hugo Almeida is warning his Beşiktaş JK team-mates against overconfidence following the Black Eagles' 2-0 victory at SC Braga in the UEFA Europa League round of 32 first leg, insisting our "work is only half done". Like Almeida, Braga's Lima and Quim both cited the first-half dismissal of Hélder Barbosa as the game's turning point, but the pair nonetheless remain hopeful of turning the tie around in Turkey next Thursday.

Hugo Almeida, Beşiktaş forward
Our work is only half done. We knew we would have a tough match because they are a very good team. Luckily for us, Hélder Barbosa was sent off around the half-hour mark and that made life much easier. There are still 90 minutes to play and we have to be very careful next week. We are very pleased to have won such an important and demanding match. Now we will play at home and I'm sure our fans will make things even harder for Braga. Their support is amazing.

Quim, Braga goalkeeper
Unfortunately the game didn't go our way. Having a player sent off and then conceding a minute later turned out to be the decisive moments. From then on we weren't able to play our football. We lost by a two-goal margin and, although it's not impossible to mount a comeback in the second leg, it will certainly be very, very difficult.

Now we have to continue working hard and to start thinking about our next game. Having said that, we will do everything in our power to get a good result in Istanbul. We have proved in the past, namely in Birmingham, that we can score away from home, so there's no reason to throw in the towel. We have to think positive.

Lima, Braga forward
With just ten men it is always very hard for any team, but even more so when you're facing a good side. Hélder Barbosa's sending-off took its toll on our display, there's no question about it. It's very tricky to turn around a tie when you concede two goals at home, but we still have a another match to play.

We are strong and we have to keep on believing we can do it. After tonight everything got harder for us, but we are a team of warriors and we never surrender. We will give our best and we will see what happens in Turkey. We are sad for having lost, even more so because it was such an important match, but we will raise our heads and will move on.