Berdyev deflated by Europa exit

Rubin Kazan coach Kurban Berdyev was left with mixed feelings after watching his team bow out of the Europa League on Thursday.

Kazan were knocked out 5-4 on aggregate by Chelsea, who progressed to the semi-finals despite their 3-2 defeat in the second leg in Russia.

Berdyev praised his players effort in coming back to take the win but said he regretted mistakes that his side ‘would usually avoid’.

“My feelings are mixed really, on the one hand I think the players earned a great result tonight, we won against a good team,” he said.

“On the other hand I am really sorry that we couldn’t progress to the semi-final stage of the competition. I was very satisfied with the game, especially the second half performance.

“Unfortunately we made mistakes that we usually avoid and a team like Chelsea can punish you, they punished us for our mistakes tonight. I thanked the players for their efforts anyway.

“We weren’t surprised by the quality of Chelsea and what we failed to do in the first half we more than made up for in the second.”