Brahimi warns Porto: We are not through yet

Yacine Brahimi warned his Porto team-mates they have not yet sealed their place in the Champions League last 16 despite a comfortable 2-0 win over Maccabi Tel-Aviv on Tuesday.

The Portuguese side now sit top of Group G on seven points from their opening three games, ahead of Dynamo Kiev on five and Chelsea on four after their rivals for qualification drew 0-0 in Ukraine.

Maccabi are still without a point or even a goal from their first three games after a defeat that was sealed through first-half goals from Vincent Aboubakar and Brahimi.

Despite moving into first place, though, Brahimi urged his side to seal one more victory so they can be sure of their place in the knockout stages.

“It was a very important win for us, but we are not qualified yet,” the 25-year-old told reporters.

“We have to win one more match, but in this match we did very well and I am happy for that. My goal was special for me, as are all the goals I score. I always try to give my best for the team.”

Brahimi’s midfield colleague Andre Andre spoke of Porto’s difficult upcoming return match against Maccabi in Israel as well as praising his side’s home victory.

“We wanted to win and we managed to do that,” he said. “We played a good match, we controlled things well in the second half and we are top of our group.

“There are still three games to go, though, and we know that the next one, in Israel, will be very difficult.

“But if we manage to win that one we will be almost certainly through. Maccabi has a good team, they defended well, but fortunately we were able to sew things up in the first half.”