Rondón relieved as Rubin see off Levante

Striker José Rondón praised Levante UD's tenacity after his goal, the first in 190 minutes of this round of 16 tie, set FC Rubin Kazan on course for a 2-0 extra-time win and a place in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals. Visiting midfielder Papa Diop was left to rue his side's failure to utilise home advantage in a contest decided by "small details".

José Rondón, Rubin forward
It was a very difficult match. We knew Levante had a lot of fight and they would cause us problems. It went to extra time but we were strong physically and we managed to win. I'm happy, we did a great job. We have to continue like this.

Rubin's objective has always been the same – we take it match by match. The knockout stages are pretty difficult and this is a difficult competition. There are teams with a lot of experience. I have no preference who we face now. It's all pretty much the same in the end – the competitive teams who have made it this far, have made it this far for a reason.

Papa Diop, Levante midfielder
It was a very difficult match. We knew our opponents would be as defensively strong as we were. I think we should have won at home in Valencia to set up qualification, but here they scored two goals from the only two chances they had. We go home very sad but with our heads held high.

They defended very well, as did we. They created bits and pieces, but there was not a lot of danger and in the end it was small details which allowed them to win. What was missing? Luck, efficiency. If we had scored we would have gone through.