Fuente: © UEFA (English)
http://www.uefa.com/

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: McLeish marvels at Rangers spirit

/noticias.info/ Alex McLeish's Rangers FC had to take the lead three times to finally overcome a resilient FC Porto in their opening UEFA Champions League game in Glasgow. Greek defender Sotirios Kyrgiakos headed a late winner to give the home side an early advantage in Group H. Peter Løvenkrands and Dado Pršo had twice given the Scottish champions the lead. Brazilian defender Pepe equalised twice, but the 2004 champions could not find a third equaliser and finished with ten men as Ricardo Quaresma was forced off by injury after coach Co Adriaanse had made all three substitutions.

Alex McLeish, Rangers manager
This was one of my most satisfying nights. I have played and managed in some great teams, and Porto are a great team. But I thought we deserved to win for sheer determination and spirit, and I couldn't praise the players enough. Let's not kid ourselves, Porto are technically a better team so I knew I had to stiffen up the lineup. It was a bit of a gamble but I know my players better than anyone and the result vindicated the selection. This win puts us in a strong position but I wouldn't talk about qualifying at this stage; there is a lot of hard work ahead.

Co Adriaanse, Porto coach
I said it would be an open game and it was. It was great to watch as both teams tried to attack and there were five goals. Late on I took a risk because I thought we could win the game. But with ten men we couldn't attack anymore, and that was a pity for us. However, I'm proud of my team even though we lost. We made more chances and our possession game was better and faster. But scoring is a quality, and they scored one more goal than us. I did not expect Alex to change the team so much. It was a strange lineup and he took a risk. I'm confident of progression; both Porto and Rangers can qualify - why not?

Dado Pršo, Rangers
I thought we deserved to win and even at 2-2 I thought we would because we had fantastic spirit. The result is a really positive boost for us because we have not played so well recently. notas_de_prensa_archivo