The Blues are through! We’ve shown our character, says Petr

How are you enjoying the fact that you qualified?
I’m truly satisfied. We knew it wouldn’t be easy but then again we knew that a 2-0 win at home wasn’t impossible. And so we fought for it until the last second and demonstrated our strong morale. We didn’t even get thrown off balance by the two crossbars we hit and kept up the pressure instead. Eventually we found the requisite strength to score the winner.
You only scored the last goal in the 87th minute. Had you been slowly losing hope?
In fact I was confident we would score eventually. Their counterattacks weren’t really working out for them and we were simply the stronger team. We’d been going for a win all along. There were also some other goal opportunities which landed inches away.
You decided to play the odds in the end; there were three strikers on the pitch.
It was our only option since we needed to bring the pressure up another notch. In the end it was thanks to this tactic that we won.
It was Demba Ba in particular. He won’t be forgetting this goal…
I’m sure he’s got even better ones up his sleeve, it’s just a matter of time. He retreated to midfield after he scored and helped others defend till the last whistle.
What did you think of Mourinho’s win celebration together with the fans?
I didn’t really see it, it was on the other side of the pitch. Supposedly there was something he needed to tell Torres, that’s why he sprinted over.
The semifinal draw is to take place on Friday, with Real Madrid being one of your potential opponents. Should you be worrying about the next phase?
Not at all, you can’t ever choose your opponents. We’ll see how Wednesday’s games unravel and then go wherever the draw takes us. If we want to qualify we have to be able to deal with any team we encounter.