Stade Rennais FC boss Julien Stéphan had mixed feelings after his side let their lead slip and conceded three away goals in the 3-3 last 32 first leg draw at home to Real Betis on Thursday – but refused to concede defeat.
Thursday, 14 February 2019
UEFA Europa League, round of 32
Roazhon Park, Rennes
Stade Rennais FC 3 – 3 Real Betis Balompié 
Julien Stephan (Stade Rennais FC coach): “It was a real rollercoaster tonight. I’m proud that we managed to have the kind of start to the match that we wanted – pressuring Betis high up the pitch and hunting possession for 25-30 minutes. But after that, there is frustration, mainly to do with the way we concede the goals – it’s awful to be pegged back in the 90th minute. Betis were very strong in the second half; we couldn’t play out of defence properly, at least not well enough to have time in possession in their half. Despite everything, we managed to mix it with Betis tonight. It was a good match against a strong team. They were favourites before the match, and they still are, but we’re still in it.”
Quique Setien (Real Betis Balompié coach): “We were expecting a much more or less like the one we got – but we weren’t expecting to be two goals down after ten minutes. We got off to a pretty bad start but we managed to turn things around. Bit by bit, we took control of the pitch, the ball and our opponents. They put plenty of pressure on us and we struggled to use the ball the way we like to, but after 20 minutes, we had the upper hand. Their third goal, just before the break, got them going again but then we took a few more risks and took complete control of the match. We scored three away goals, and that’s great. I think it was a deserved draw.”
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