Cork City playmaker Barry McNamee believes his side were guilty of showing Legia Warsaw too much respect as they were eliminated from the Champions League at the first hurdle on Tuesday night. City will now switch their attentions to the Europa Leagu
Cork City playmaker Barry McNamee believes his side were guilty of showing Legia Warsaw too much respect as they were eliminated from the Champions League at the first hurdle on Tuesday night.
City will now switch their attentions to the Europa League third qualifying round after they were defeated 3-0 by the Polish Double Winners in the second leg in Warsaw, losing 4-0 on aggregate in the first round qualifiers of Europe’s Elite club competition.
And speaking to reporters shortly after full time in the Polish National Stadium, McNamee admitted the Leesiders sat of their opponents too much although he added that they were the best side he’s ever faced.
“Coming here nobody was really expecting anything from us,” said the former Derry City man.
“We did well last week to minimise their chances and the first half this week I think we sat in a bit too much and gave them a wee bit too much respect.
“Second half we created three or four great chances and if we had taken one of them at 1-0 to tie it up on the night it would have been a different game.
“But to be fair they were clinical when they got their chances, we were a bit sloppy for their second giving away a penalty.
“The first goal was a bit soft but at the same time it didn’t really change our thinking. We knew we had to score and if we wanted to go through we needed to score two so it didn’t really change much.
“I think the second half we started to get a foothold in the game, we started to play some good football and it was just the second goal knocked the stuffing out of us really.
“It’s the Champions League, it’s a step up. They’re the best team I’ve ever played against and I think a lot of the boys will say that as well.
“But at the same time, we talked about it in the changing room after the game that we gave a good account of ourselves but we’re disappointed with how it ended. Now we need to try and win the league so we can be back at this stage next year.”
