REACTIONS

“We viewed it as a difficult game and losing in Stuttgart in
the last round put extra pressure on us to get a result, so
it is a bit of a relief. With their tradition Rangers were
never going to give up - a lot of European teams would not
have shown the resilience that Rangers did. That's a British
spirit thing.

“Winning 1-0 is a very dodgy result, you never know what is
going to happen so we are relieved and satisfied. I enjoyed
it - I always enjoy coming back to Glasgow and the fans were
great to me. It was always going to be tough here. It was a
great game of football, the atmosphere was terrific, the
pitch was great and Rangers gave it everything. Alex McLeish
will be very pleased with his players.

"We always believed that both our games against Rangers
would be tough and this game has just reinforced that. They
have good players. Peter Lovenkrands is a great danger - he
is quick and players who are quick can get behind you.

“In the first half maybe we scored too early - we found it
hard to get a tempo going but in the second half we did.
After scoring early we sat back a little bit and didn't make
the right choices when counter-attacking.

"The key games are the next ones. The important thing is
what happens in Greece and both Rangers and ourselves will
be hoping Panathinaikos take something from their game there
with Stuttgart.

"Stuttgart are a very difficult proposition on their own
ground and if they get a result in Athens against
Panathinaikos we are both going to be looking over our
shoulder.”

Phil Nev:

“It is the biggest goal I have scored but tonight was all
about getting the three points. But I think there were more
heroes in our team than myself. I thought the two centre-
backs and the goalkeeper were fantastic. They stood strong
under a lot of pressure.

“Initially I was looking to play Ryan in but then it opened
out, a couple of players came across and I just thought 'hit
the target'.”

Alex McLeish:

“I thought we were unlucky not to get something out of it.
It's not often teams create five or six chances against the
champions of England. If we had not created those chances I
wouldn't have been making a case for Rangers at all. But we
did. I was surprised - I thought maybe we would get two or
three. With more careful finishing, we definitely could have
had something.

“We threw four up front for the last 10 minutes; we thought
even if we lose another goal we will have a real go at
United and see if we can snatch something right at the
death. United did enough to win - but it wasn't without a
fright.

“Being cynical, we could have maybe at least have fouled him
(Phil Neville). It's unusual for Phil to be scoring at all -
but he took advantage of the space he had around him and
slotted it into the bottom corner.

“We started the game well - it was a travesty to go behind,
especially the way that we did. It was a mistake with the
long ball. Craig Moore tried to cushion it; they seized on
the ball and they punished us - he's disappointed. That's
what I say about this league. It's an unforgiving
tournament, and you are punished for the slightest mistake.”