DIEGO ALONSO: "WE ARE ALL HURTING"

Diego Alonso shared his thoughts following the defeat in Lens that knocked us out of Europe. When asked about the controversial refereeing decisions, he responded by saying "it is not an excuse, these things happen. It's another tough result to take because overall we played well and probably deserved more. Football can be a cruel sport sometimes. They took both of their chances while we lacked that clinical edge, but we need to keep believing in ourselves."

With regards to the dressing room, our first team head coach confessed that "the players are hurting as much as the fans. Not having European football after Christmas is really disappointing, especially considering that we had a chance to guarantee it two weeks ago. We've come away from both tonight's game and the last one [against PSV at home] with nothing; we could have easily won both. We are all disappointed with the result tonight."

Finally, Alonso turned his attention to Saturday's important LaLiga match. "The players and the fans deserve to have something to celebrate. It has been a tough period and I'm not just talking about bad luck. We have to keep pushing, keeping our heads held high. But the support from the club and the players gives me optimism. We have to be strong and we have to believe that we are capable of getting that all-important win against Getafe."