Southampton were knocked out of the Europa League last night after a 1-1 draw against Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Southampton star Dusan Tadic admits they did not expect elimination from the Europa League after their 1-1 draw with Hapoel Be’er Sheva at St Mary’s, the Daily Echo reports.
A goalless draw will have been enough to take the Saints through but they fell behind in the closing stages through a Maor Buzaglo strike. Virjil van Dijk’s equaliser in stoppage time wasn’t enough to take the Saints through as the Israeli side progressed on away goals over the two games between the two sides.
Southampton’s Dusan Tadic
Maya Yoshida came within a whisker of completing a remarkable late turnaround but his header just went the wrong side of the post.
Tadic is quoted in the Daily Echo, saying: “We are disappointed. We didn’t expect this. I was sure we would go through, but this happened. It’s really painful.
“I think we should have gone through before. We should have finished that before [in other games]. We shouldn’t have waited for tonight.
“We had a good situation after the Inter game. It’s a big disappointment. We need to see the good things and the bad things and keep going.”
Southampton certainly had their chances to ensure their passage to the next round of the competition. They will feel they should have come away from the San Siro with something to show for their efforts instead of a defeat to Inter Milan, while their display in Sparta Prague a couple of weeks ago left a lot of room for improvement.
The challenge now for the Saints is to pick themselves up and focus on the domestic challenges ahead of them. The fixture list remains busy with the Christmas period imminent, and their participation in both cup competitions – notably the two-legged EFL Cup semi-final against Liverpool in January.
Southampton team group before the gamel
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