Herrera delight at Athletic's qualification

Ander Herrera expressed his delight after firing the only goal of the game against FC Salzburg to ensure Athletic Club progress from UEFA Europa League Group F to the round of 32. Salzburg's Dušan Švento, meanwhile, is still confident the Austrian side have enough to overcome Paris Saint-Germain FC on matchday five and keep their own hopes alive.

Ander Herrera, Athletic midfielder
We are delighted to be through to the next round. We were up against against an opponent that played very well and gave their all. We protected our lead to the end, which we did not manage to do the other day in the Liga when we conceded an equaliser [against Real Sporting de Gijón].

The team leaves here stronger. We can be satisfied with our work and especially to have qualified with two games to spare. Obviously, I am especially happy to have scored the decisive goal in a 1-0 victory.

Fernando Llorente, Athletic forward
It was a competitive match. We tried to control the game and we were the better team, so I think we deserved to win. We have qualified now, but we have to keep playing well because we want to go through as group winners. Let us see if we are able to win our remaining matches.

Dušan Švento, Salzburg midfielder
We played well, with plenty of good passing moves and pressure. However, we did not score and we conceded on the counter, which was a pity. Of course we are very disappointed. I think we were very unlucky.

It will be hard to qualify for the next round now. We need six points, but we still have a chance. We are playing PSG at home and then Slovan Bratislava, who we beat 3-0, so it is still wide open. The advantage we have over PSG is that we tend to play better at home. We lost 3-1 in the first game, but we played well over there in the first half before conceding two goals due to needless mistakes. It is going to be a different game at home.

Franz Schiemer, Salzburg midfielder
I cannot deny that we are hugely disappointed. To come away without a win after two performances like that against Athletic is indescribable. I can barely believe it. Fortunately, the good thing about football is that these things are quickly forgotten and there is always a fresh challenge around the corner.

We will have to process tonight's defeat and accept it. We will be frustrated but we have to bounce back and take the positives from the performance. In future, we have to make the most of our chances. Even the smallest errors are punished at this level. Obviously, you need other factors, which you cannot influence, to go your way as well, but hopefully things will turn around for us over the next few games.