LEVEIN: BRAGA COACH MOTIVATED US

The Portuguese side lost the first leg at Murrayfield 3-1 but boss Jesualdo Ferreira branded Hearts a bad team and insisted his side would progress to the group stages of the competition.

Instead a 2-2 draw at the Estadio Municipal de Braga allowed Levein's men to go through with a 5-3 aggregate win.

And the Hearts boss insists a large part of that result was down to the remarks Ferreira made in Edinburgh.

He claims his players were so disgusted at the lack of respect shown by the Braga boss that they asked Levein to go public with their anger.

The Hearts boss said: "The players take great satisfaction from proving to the Braga coach that we are a good side. We played the game on the field and he played the game with his mouth.

"He was disrespectful to our team. We won the first leg 3-1 and he should have said that we deserved to win because it's true.

"But he said that we were a poor team and that he didn't like the style of football we play.

"All he did was make my players very angry. We saw tonight 11 players who are determined and who will work hard and they can beat a team of 11 very good players.

"The players read his comments and they were disgusted by his behaviour.

"We haven't played a lot of games in European football but normally the coaches are respectful to each other and each other's teams but he wasn't.

"I think that made a difference to the result. The players asked me to say this - that they were annoyed."

Hearts were left reeling when Braga took the lead through Joao Tomas but a double from Mark de Vries ensured a smooth passage to the group stages despite a Jaime goal later in the game.

De Vries had been ruled out of the game through injury but he took a painkilling injection 15 minutes before kick-off so he could play - and the gamble paid off.

Levein insists it was the player's own determination to play a part in the clash which led to him being unexpectedly named in the starting XI.

He added: "I had ruled Mark out and I didn't think he had any chance but yesterday he felt like he could train. He was in a lot of pain but was willing to take the injection to play in the game.

"It was very courageous and I'm grateful he played because he did make a difference.

"It was his decision, he made the decision that he wanted to play and I didn't have to ask him.

"Ramon Pereira also took an injection and it just shows that there are a lot of players who want to play for the club and that is important."

Ferreira claimed after the game that his comments about the Hearts players after the first leg was simply a way of motivating his own players.

He said: "Hearts are a good team and of course I have respect for them but I know my own players and I know what I have to say to them."

Taken from sportinglife.com