Payet: Lille's Champions League qualification is only logical

Aug 30, 2012 10:00:00 AM

The France international was overjoyed with his side's hard-fought win over Copenhagen, and was pleased with the support the home fans offered at their new stadium

Dimitri Payet feels that it is only logical that Lille have qualified for the group stage of the Champions League as their performance against Copenhagen merited progress.

The Ligue 1 side were beaten 1-0 in the first leg of their play-off in Denmark, but a 2-0 victory after extra time in the return saw them book their ticket for the next round after all, much to the delight of the 25-year-old.

"We were determined to change the direction of the tie after the first leg, when we were lacking in a lot of departments. Wednesday, we played well at both ends and in the tackles, so it's logical that we qualified," Payet was quoted as saying on the Uefa website.

"We had to be patient; we knew that if we scored once we would have extra time and perhaps penalties in order to qualify, so we were patient and we were rewarded for our efforts. We worked very hard and we are through.

"It's great [to have won this first European match at the new stadium], particularly as it was a very difficult match and there was a lot of pressure surrounding this match.

"We created a connection with our fans and you could say we have made ourselves at home in our new stadium."

Lille are seeded in pot three for Thursday's draw in Monaco.