Ljajić hopes Roma can kick on after Feyenoord win

• Adem Ljajić hopes Roma's 2-1 success proves a turning point in their season
• The Serbia winger wants to avoid the other four Serie A teams in the draw
• Feyenoord's Karim El Ahmadi says conceding late in the first half was the "crucial moment"
• Home coach Fred Rutten cites Roma's experience as being a key factor in the game
• Follow Friday's round of 16 draw on UEFA.com, with live streaming from 13.00CET

Adem Ljajić, Roma winger
It's good that several Italian teams have reached the next round of the Europa League, but I hope we won't face one in the last 16. This victory might be the perfect moment for us to change the course of our season. We have been playing well without recording many victories, mostly draws, so I hope this could change things for us.

Karim El Ahmadi, Feyenoord midfielder
We competed well against Roma. When we were down to ten men we played better than them, but overall they were stronger than us tonight. Conceding late in the first half was a crucial moment. We wanted to keep the score at 0-0 going into the break, which would have allowed us to stay in the game a bit longer, but unfortunately we didn't manage to.

Unlike the first leg, Roma pressed us early and high up the pitch. They didn't allow us to play our game and that made the difference today. We can be proud of the fact we played good football in several European games this season, against some big opponents, so we've shown we can handle ourselves at this level.

Rudi Garcia, Roma coach
I told my players at half-time that they had to stay focused but, despite my words, Feyenoord scored the equaliser. With a bit of luck we managed to quickly retake the lead, which allowed us to finish the match in a calm way.

My players followed the game plan well – they didn't let Feyenoord play and they pressed high with the aim of stealing balls and creating chances. After taking a 2-1 lead, we played a bit more defensively, but we did have the chance to score a third goal. I would have liked that, because the players deserved it.

Fred Rutten, Feyenoord coach
We couldn't play our usual game in the first half because Roma were the better team. Roma pressed us high up the pitch and they had more chances, like when Totti hit the post. For my young team, it was hard to face experienced players like him. We didn't create many chances.

[Colin] Kazım [Richards] had to be substituted, which was a big blow. We hoped it would be 0-0 at the end of the first half, but Roma scored in the dying minutes. The start of the second half was also difficult for us because of the red card [shown to Mitchell Te Vrede].

I decided to bring on [Elvis] Manu, even though I knew he might only be able to play 30 minutes. He instantly scored the equaliser. After that, I thought we could get more goals, but Roma immediately regained the lead and that was the end for us both physically and mentally. It's sad that Feyenoord are out of the Europa League.