Belief beginning to flow for Fenerbahçe's Kuyt

A jubilant Dirk Kuyt told UEFA.com that Fenerbahçe SK have "a very good mix to be successful in Europe" after the Istanbul heavyweights swept to a 4-2 UEFA Europa League Group C victory at VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach. Team-mate Moussa Sow was equally enthusiastic but admitted to a "big sigh of relief" at full time, while Mönchengladbach goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen rued their mistakes and forward Luuk de Jong switched his attention to the home-and-away encounters with Olympique de Marseille.

Dirk Kuyt, Fenerbahçe forward
We're delighted with the win. We've come through a difficult period and the only way to respond is on the pitch. I think the team did that today. We played like a team, acted like a team, and we showed we can compete with a good European side. They've been through a rough patch but they're a good team. They showed that last season. They were near the top of the Bundesliga, which is one of the toughest leagues in Europe. They worked very hard and we had to be very good, and I thought we were very good and deserved to win.

If we play together, we can be very strong. We have a lot of talented Turkish players, but also a lot of players with European experience like myself, Raul Meireles, Mehmet Topal and Miloš Krasić. That can be a very good mix to be successful in Europe. This is an important three points after we dropped two in Istanbul. The next stop is Limassol away [on 25 October], and if we can get another three points there, we'll be almost through to the next stage – that's what we want.

Moussa Sow, Fenerbahçe forward
We gave a big sigh of relief at the final whistle. We haven't been in great shape recently, especially after the [2-2 draw] with Marseille. It's not good for your confidence, so this match came around at just the right time, and we're really, really happy. The club have recruited a lot of players this year. It's taken time for people to adapt, but I'm happy tonight because everyone really played well. You saw what a good team we are.

Mönchengladbach really showed their determination. We'd seen that – even though they lost 5-0 to Dortmund last weekend, it was not really obvious in the game. They created chances. We tried to be aware of that and the fact they're a team that like to play football. We really pressed them, which knocked them out of their stride a little. I wouldn't say the games coming up are going to be easy. We're going to do everything to retain our focus, but first there's this weekend's game with Beşiktaş.

Marc-André ter Stegen, Mönchengladbach goalkeeper
We didn't play well and that's why my analysis is pretty grim. When we led 1-0, everything looked rosy, but then we made two mistakes and were severely punished. That mustn't happen. If, for the opener, [Cristian] had put the free-kick in on my side of the goal, everyone would have been asking where I was standing. I can't speculate about that, but it's hard for any goalkeeper to get to a shot like that. We have to look forward, analyse our mistakes and hopefully this weekend we can provide a response.

Luuk de Jong, Mönchengladbach forward
We started well, but then they scored twice from set pieces. We had our chances, even when we were 2-1 behind. If we had scored an equaliser then, perhaps we could have made something happen. We have a young team but I think there are also a lot of experienced players. That's not the problem. We wanted to win and did everything we could to do that. Fenerbahçe had the quality to score the goals today and it was difficult to defend against them. It's not an easy group. We need to continue and look forward to these European games, but it's going to be difficult against Marseille – they have a good team.