Ranieri's take on Europa League last-16 qualification

Here's what the boss had to say...

How did you turn what was a very difficult match on paper into an evening to remember?

“Having great players helps. Having a [Paulo] Dybala string to your bow makes a difference, because besides being an incredible player he's also a leader. He rallies the team. He doesn't speak much but when he does he says the right things at the time. It's thanks to him that we were able to turn the game around.

“But I didn't go into the dressing room today because I would have lost it. I get mad when we concede one goal, let alone two. When I see everyone running forward to attack... I was telling them: 'Where are you going? Stay back.' Porto were desperate. They were trying to claw their way back in it, trying to do something. Let's stay put and if we get the chance to score another, we'll score another. Don't rush forward and risk letting one in. And that's what we did. We still need to become a team. We can't be tense like that at the start and then react thanks to Paulo. The game was in our hands at that point. It was 11 v 10. We could do what we wanted. We just needed to be careful out there.”

Does that mean there's room for improvement?

“Absolutely. I'm very happy, but we do need to do better. Every stadium in Europe – not just our own – knows that we concede goals on the counter, so why do we give them that opportunity? We're winning. We're 3-1 up – why are we pushing forward? It's unacceptable.

“Credit to my players, though. I don't want to go on about it. Otherwise I'll end up telling you what I didn't want to say in the dressing room and that wouldn't be right.”

You mentioned Dybala. What did he show you tonight that you didn't already know about him?

“His team-mates gave their all but he sets things alight. He's the fuse, which is everything. He's enjoying himself and is in good shape – he never wants to come off. I'm happy to have him.”

It's more enjoyable when they're attacking.

“Yes, I enjoy that but you also need to be rational. You're winning. Keep the ball moving. Let the fresh legs do the running. Let them run. I don't want to see defenders running beyond our attacking line. Where are we going?

“Anyway, let's talk about the good things. I'm happy. The fans are happy. The lads played superbly and got back into a very difficult match. We've had two really good games. Both in Porto and in Rome tonight, we showed we want to be successful. Moments change matches but I'm happy with how my players performed.”

[Ranieri is shown Dybala's equaliser] Porto playing out from the back could have created problems for you because it stretched the team a little, but then you managed to turn Porto's strategy in your favour. Did you expect Porto to adopt that strategy and how satisfying is it to watch this goal again? 

“We did expect it. We knew Porto had a lot of quality from the midfield up but in defence they sometimes misplaced passes. That's why we applied a high press in Porto as well. We knew they would make mistakes.”

What do you have to say about Eldor Shomurodov?

“He wasn't able to score and I'm really sorry because he runs his socks off. I think the world of him. He always toils for everyone else. He's got great vision and technique too – not just an engine.”

What will you be doing at 1 pm on Friday?

“Nothing. I'll be training!”