Juande Ramos declared himself more than satisfied with Sevilla's display following the 2-1 home win over Steaua Bucharest.
Sevilla boss content as Steaua are sunk in Spain
Sevilla coach Juande Ramos declared himself more than satisfied with his side's display following the 2-1 home win over Steaua Bucharest, but conceded his players had perhaps eased up a little too early.
The Spaniards seemed to be cruising to a comfortable success as they raced into a 2-0 lead on the clock courtesy of Fredi Kanoute and Luis Fabiano with barely 17 minutes.
However, Steaua halved the deficit through Ovidiu Petre on 63 minutes and ensured Sevilla had to be on their mettle to close out what could prove an important triumph.
"We were magnificent in the first half and maybe got a little over-confident after that as the players thought they had the game won and relaxed a little to let Steaua back in the game," Ramos explained.
Fabiano added: "We played a great game and made a great effort. In the second half they came at us and changed tactics, but we fought really well."
Ramos feels his side are now well-placed to progress with Arsenal who have all but booked their passage following a third group stage win on the spin against Slavia Prague.
On the right road
"Arsenal has everything almost done, while we have to work to get another victory," Ramos continued. "We know we're on the right road but we can't drop our guard.
Steaua boss Massimo Pedrazzini admitted his outfit always faced an uphill task after falling behind so early, but was pleased with the reaction of his charges in second half.
"It was a difficult game for us after Sevilla got those goals so early on," added Pedrazzini.
"We suffered and although we played better in the second half the reaction came too late."
