Gregory van der Wiel praised his Paris Saint-Germain teammates in aggregate away goals defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League.
The French were eliminated from Europe at the quarter-final stage on Wednesday evening on away goals after a 1-1 draw in the Camp Nou was not enough to wipe out the 2-2 result from the first leg.
Even so, full-back Van der Wiel reflected that the Parisians have to be proud of their performance.
“Of course we are proud – we did a great job against one of the best teams in the world,” the Dutchman told UEFA’s website post-match.
“We've drawn twice against Barcelona so that's certainly something to be proud of. Tactically the Coach asked us to do a lot of things.
“You have to watch out for Barcelona, you can't let them play their game. We had to press them as much as possible and, most importantly, to have the courage to play our own game.”
Van der Wiel reflected on the effect Lionel Messi’s absence from the starting line-up had and then when he came off the bench in the second half.
“It could be that Barcelona are a different team when Messi doesn't play. We all know he's a fantastic footballer, he can decide games on his own.
“But tonight we had the chance to win here. You saw the crowd when he came on and how they reacted.
“I guess it was a big boost to the team too. Of course we leave a little disappointed but most of all we can be proud of how far we have come.”
