Aalborg delighted with victory over 'better side'

• Aalborg steal a march on Steaua after this narrow home success
• AaB coach Kent Nielsen says side "had luck to survive" late push by visitors
• Nicolai Larsen admits "best team lost" Group J fixture
• Steaua coach Constantin Gâlcă rues missed opportunities
• Next games: Steaua v Dynamo Kyiv, Rio Ave v AaB (11 December)

Kent Nielsen, AaB coach
We are very pleased with the result. Sometimes in football you need a little bit of luck and we had that today. Steaua really pushed forward and by the end of the game, they had two big chances, but we had the luck to survive that.

We are aware that we have beaten a team that player by player are a better side than we are, but on the other hand a combination of teamwork, effort and a bit of class – and the nice goal we scored – led to our victory. The win has put us in a very favourable position [in the group].

At Steaua [on matchday one] we played very well in the first half and created a host of chances but we were not able to take our opportunities and lost 6-0. Today we didn't play as well as we did in the first half at Steaua but we managed to score and win. But that's just the essence of football – you do not have to be the best side in order to win a match, but the better teams get the results in the long term.

Nicolai Larsen, AaB goalkeeper
There is no doubt that the best team lost today. But it's nice to know that we are capable of overcoming such a strong team, even when they dominate the game. We played a better side today, but we ended up winning simply because we stand together. I made some crucial saves, especially in the closing stages, so it's great as a goalkeeper to help your team achieve a victory.

Thomas Enevoldsen, AaB forward
It was our goal before the tie today, to win – so we would be able to decide our own fate. So we are now looking forward to the final match at Rio Ave. We are in a position now where we have to go through to the knockout stage. Anything else will be a huge disappointment. But I also think we will be able to get a result at Rio Ave that will take us to the next round.

Constantin Gâlcă, Steaua coach 
I think we played well, I don't think there have been other teams in this group that have dominated the game here at Aalborg as much as we did. Basically they only created a single chance in the first half and another after the goal. We are still confident that we can qualify and win the game against Dynamo Kyiv [on matchday six]. I can guarantee you that AaB will not have an easy game at Rio Ave.

It is a pity we didn't score at least once because we had some decent opportunities. It was not just down to bad luck that we didn't score because we had so many chances that we should have converted. We will do whatever is required to get through to the next round.