Porto, Lucho: “We put in a great performance”

As the final whistle blew and the Estádio do Dragão erupted with joy as FC Porto reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since their triumphant 2003/04 campaign, a few players in the home ranks must have been pinching himself to make sure it was real.

Captain Lucho Gonzalez was happy just to savour the moment after making the last eight for the first time since he arrived in northern Portugal from CA River Plate in 2005. “We’re very content,” he said. “I think we put in a great performance, and it’s a very happy dressing room. Even though there are lots of strong teams left in the competition, we got the better of a strong opponent in this round so we can be happy.”

The Argentinian international concluded: “We’ll take whichever team comes up in the draw. They will all be difficult to play against. First we owe it to ourselves to enjoy this moment, and then we’ll start working towards the next stage.”