Lopes "sad and disappointed" at performance after defeat against Twente

Lincoln Red Imps captain Bernardo Lopes expressed his disappointment at his team's result against FC Twente on Thursday in the league phase of the Conference League.

The Imps captain, who had been a concern before the match due to his match fitness, was among the starting XI that took to the field in the 4-1 defeat.

In a high-intensity match, with the contest both on and off the field, Lopes made no attempt to hide his disappointment at the result and his team's performance.

Diplomatic as always, the Imps captain said he was "sad and disappointed" during an interview with the club's official media team following the match. He expressed his view that the team could have done more on the night. "In my opinion, we should have done a little better. A little bit more attitude would have made a difference."

Accepting that the "rhythm and intensity", as well as the pace of the game brought by Twente, had been "the biggest difference", Lopes believed the team needed to "work hard and push itself" further to compete at this level. The Imps captain acknowledged that "in this competition our opponents will be far better than the ones we normally face".

Head coach Juanma Pavon praised his opponents, acknowledging that his team had been pushed back from "the first minute of the game".

One of Pavon's objectives had been to exploit opportunities to counter-attack. However, as he admitted, these came too few times to be effective.

Pavon said the fourth and final goal "hurt the most", coming at a time when he believed his side could have closed the gap further.

Twente's presence in Gibraltar brought to the Rock some of the scenes witnessed across European football in recent years, with around 200 visiting fans gathering before the match before marching and chanting their way to the Europa Sports Stadium.

Although the match had been assessed as "high risk" due to the use of pyrotechnics by Twente fans at previous matches, one of the most notable aspects was the reduced number of visiting supporters compared with the 600 expected before the game. Large sections of seats in the south stand were covered with white sheeting to ensure supporters from both sides would not mix.