Aberdeen skipper Russell Anderson spoke to RedMatchday ahead of the Dons return leg against Real Sociedad on Thursday night:

“Their performance had everything you would expect from a team that plays at the top end of the Spanish League. They passed it well, they were comfortable on the ball, they pressed, all the things we’ve become used to seeing from their national team.

“In saying that, we managed to limit them to very few clear cut chances and in the end, Jamie didn’t have too many saves to make despite the fact that this was a big step up in quality from the two previous qualifying games.

“They had the lion’s share of the possession of course and they used it well, but I think we were 51 minutes into the game before they got an effort on target which says a lot for our defensive organisation.
“It was always our plan not to be too open, but the Spanish way, as we’ve seen over the years, is to keep the ball, keep passing, and to keep trying to stretch the opposition out of position and ultimately, that patience worked out for them. Ninety minutes is a very long time to be trying to keep out a team like that, I can promise you!

“We were disappointed with the way we conceded the first goal, we had opportunities to clear the ball but didn’t and then the first goal changes things a lot, it takes the pressure off them and they can play with a bit more freedom.

“It was a good learning experience, especially for some of the younger boys who’ve not come up against this quality as yet in their careers and we need to apply what we’ve learnt in the game this evening. That’s the great thing playing at this level because it is totally different to what you see domestically, and for the likes of Ryan, Peter and Nicky, it’s a great learning curve for them.

“We need to retain possession of the ball better when we get it and that is what we will be aiming to do that in the second leg.

“You can’t really get forward and look to hurt teams if you don’t keep hold of the ball well, and that was the real frustration coming out of that tie, that we didn’t create enough ourselves and give ourselves the opportunity to get the important away goal. I think we’re still very much in the tie, albeit that things will obviously have to go our way tonight. But as they say, it’s only half-time at the moment so if we can get the first goal on Thursday, with the crowd behind us then Sociedad will know that they are in a proper game.

“It’s up to us to give the crowd something to get behind right from the off and I’m sure we’ll be looking to take the game to Sociedad, trying to put the same pressure on them as they did on us over there, but clearly, we need to be tight at the back as well because conceding an away goal would be costly.

“But if we can get the crowd really fired up early on and maybe put Sociedad under some pressure then hopefully if we can get that first goal it will give us the momentum to really kick on.

“There’s always talk about the great European nights at Pittodrie over the years, but if we can turn this game around, then this will go up there with the very best of them. It was great to make history in the League Cup last season, so let’s hope we can create a little more on Thursday evening”