Hoeneß lauds "more efficient" Porto on night of Stuttgart's Europa League exit | OneFootball

Although their Europa League journey ended in Porto this evening, VfB Stuttgart coach Sebastian Hoeneß remained magnanimous in defeat after his side lost 2-0 (4-1 aggregate). 

"Congratulations to Francesco [Farioli] and his team on progressing to the next round. There were two matches, and one team was more efficient than the other [over two legs].

“I wouldn’t say the chances created fully justified this result; I think my team also put in a good performance. We created plenty of chances,” Hoeneß said after the final whistle.

Despite their elimination, the 43-year-old could still take some positives from the game, and paid particular homage to Porto's goalkeeper Diogo Costa who made several key saves. 

“Perhaps we didn’t apply as much pressure in the first match as we did today, but today I think we had 15 minutes of intense pressure. In the end, it wasn’t the result we needed.

"We kept believing, but in the 21st-minute Porto scored. We put them under pressure, but I think their goalkeeper had one of the best games of his career. He really helped the team get the result.

“[Victor] Froholdt scored a brilliant goal with his weaker leg. We leave here with our heads held high; we played some very good matches. Porto were an amazing team, with a real team spirit. 

“Once again, my congratulations to Farioli and FC Porto. There was one player who stood out as the best on the pitch, and that was the goalkeeper,” said Hoeneß praising Costa again.