FC Porto manager, Sérgio Conceição was full of praise for Super Eagles defender Zaidu Sanusi and his teammates after a narrow win over Chelsea in the UCL.
The Portuguese giants shocked their Premier League hosts 0-1 at Stamford Bridge courtesy of a late but stunning bicycle kick goal from Mehdi Taremi in their UCL quarter-final second leg tie on Tuesday night.
Taremi’s excellent goal handed Thomas Tuchel his second defeat as Chelsea manager but was not just enough to see the Portuguese through to the semifinals following a 2-1 aggregate loss.
Super Eagles defender Sanusi played his usual part in what was a dominant display from Porto, helping his team to a clean sheet as he made five recoveries, won three aerial duels, completed 100% of his dribbles, created one chance and key pass.
Despite their impressive display on the night, Sanusi and his teammates came short of a place in the semifinals with the Blues going through on aggregate.
Regardless, their manager, Conceição was a proud man as he praised his team for a competent and quality performance especially defensively on the night
“I am extremely proud of the group, the players and the way they believe in what they work for,” he told UEFA.com.
“It was one of the best games I have been involved in in Europe. It had everything. Not only in the interpretation of the strategy, but in the entire defensive process. We were very competent in defensive organisation against a great opponent.”
Conceição added;
“It’s not that we didn’t have chances. We played a fantastic game. The team was very good at interpreting the strategy. We did not let players of the highest level, such as those at Chelsea, create many chances.”
For the PL side, Chelsea, a first appearance at this stage of the competition since the 2013/14 season means they have now reached the last four for the seventh time in UEFA Champions League history.
Their last was against Atlético Madrid in 2014, when another Super Eagles star, Jon Obi Mikel was involved as the Blues lost 3-1 at Stamford Bridge following a goalless draw in the Spanish capital.