Blanc 'proud' as Bordeaux bow out

Bordeaux coach Laurent Blanc was "incredibly proud" of his players despite their elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Lyon.

Marouane Chamakh's solitary strike handed Les Girondins a 1-0 victory on the night but that was not enough as Lyon defended their first-leg advantage to progress 3-2 on aggregate.

Bordeaux were good value for their win and might have snatched a place in the semi-finals of the competition had France international Hugo Lloris not produced a stunning reflex stop to deny Wendell late on, but Blanc conceded his side had given themselves too much to do with their 3-1 loss in the first leg.

"Our only possible regret concerns the first leg," said the former Manchester United and Marseille defender.

"For the return, my players played the game I expected of them. We did exactly what we planned to do, so we can have no regrets. On the contrary, I'm incredibly proud.

"We were a bit incoherent in the first leg, due certainly to a lack of experience, but I repeat, you can't buy this kind of experience in the supermarket.

"For the Champions League, you have to play it, and this fact certainly held Lyon in good stead."

While Lyon now move on to contest their first ever Champions League semi-final tie, against Bayern Munich, Bordeaux must content themselves with trying to defend their Ligue 1 crown in what has become a thrilling six-way title battle.

"We can be proud of our campaign," said highly-rated frontman Chamakh.

"In the end it all came down to small details, to some bad luck both in the first leg and tonight. We're happy with what we've done but frustrated because we had a chance.

"Now we need to get back to work in the league. I think [this] match will steady the ship a bit.

"We were solid, we didn't concede and we regained a strong state of mind. We'll have to give it everything in the league to hang on to our title and above all to qualify for the Champions League again."

Bordeaux captain Alou Diarra conceded that the best side had won over the two legs, but was left to rue the bitter end to another cup campaign following their elimination from the Coupe de France and defeat in the final of the Coupe de la Ligue last month.

"It's another disappointment, another of our objectives got away from us despite the fact that we played a good match," said Diarra.

"We have to focus on the positives: we showed Bordeaux's best side. Over the two matches, Lyon deserve their qualification; they created a significant lead in the first match.

"In the end it came down to just one goal.

"We need to take inspiration from this match for the rest of our season. It's the more experienced side that went through, and at this stage of the competition, experience counts for a lot."