Lazio's Álvaro cannot help believing

VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach lost their UEFA Europa League round of 32 tie to S.S. Lazio, but Martin Stranzl and Patrick Herrmann gave full credit to the 10,000 supporters who followed the Foals to the Italian capital. Lazio, meanwhile, can expect more German visitors next month when VfB Stuttgart meet them in the round of 16, but goalscorer Álvaro González is confident that Bruno Labbadia's team will suffer a similar fate.

Álvaro González, Lazio midfielder
It was a game we started with the right attitude, with a will to win. Even though a draw would have been enough, we didn't rely on that. I think we played a great game today.

We are going to be up against a strong team who may not be doing so well in the Bundesliga, but if they have got this far, then they have deserved it. We've got to be careful and give it 100%, and if we can do that I think we can go a long way. Each time you get through a round, you gain more confidence.

Antonio Candreva, Lazio midfielder
We had to win this game to forget our horrible league defeat by Siena, and we've done that and gone through. We've bounced back in style against a strong side who also didn't deserve to lose their last league game. Now we don't have to think about the Coppa Italia until the final so we can focus on the Europa League, although our priority has got to be the league because our rivals are catching up with us.

Martin Stranzl, Mönchengladbach defender
Our fans were fantastic, like they always are for our home games and European games. We've had so much great support that it makes it even more of a shame that we've lost here to Lazio. We've got to pay the fans a huge compliment.

Everybody wants to be involved in experiences like this and it's our aim, of course, to get back into Europe. It's going to be hard to get there – we've got Borussia Dortmund at the weekend and that's going to be very difficult – but if you want to play in Europe, then you've got to win games like that.

I don't think the first leg was decisive. Lazio were tactically disciplined, clever and more experienced than us and that's what made the difference. They were just better than us. We said we wanted to keep a clean sheet for as long as possible and then maybe put pressure on later, but when you concede so early, it ruins your plans. We tried as hard as we could, but it just wasn't enough.

Patrick Herrmann, Mönchengladbach forward
It's phenomenal how many fans made their way here and we've got to say a great thank you to them for the way they supported us, despite the defeat.

We had to look for the win and that was why we wanted to keep things tight, but when you concede so early, and then go 2-0 down soon after, it's hard to imagine winning. We've got a young team and we've taken a lot of experience out of this campaign and it helps us all. At the start of the group phase, we were being written off, but we showed great spirit to fight our way back and come through. I think we've all gained a lot of experience. We always want to play in Europe, and to do so again next season would be nice.