Schalke captain Marcelo Bordon praised his team-mates after the Bundesliga outfit beat Porto 1-0 in the Champions League on Tuesday.Kevin Kuranyi's fourth-minute strike was all that separated the two sides after the first leg in Gelsenkirchen, and another clean sheet in the return in Portugal will see Schalke into the last eight for the first time.

Schalke's main aim before the match was to nullify the attacking threat of the 2004 champions, and Bordon was delighted that his side managed to stick to their gameplan.

He said: "The best thing is we have reached the aim we have been working all week towards.

"We stood firm and did not really allow them any decent chances to score.

"We now have to play an intelligent game in Porto."

Schalke coach Mirko Slomka was delighted with the victory but added that he is under no illusions over the scale of the task awaiting them in the return leg.

"We have got to play at the highest level in Porto," he said.

"This win opens a lot of opportunities to us, but the return leg will still be tight."

Slomka added that he was delighted with the contribution of goalscorer Kuranyi, who came in for criticism for squandering a glut of chances in Schalke's Bundesliga defeat to Wolfsburg on Friday.

"We got into the game very well and were strong in the tackle," Slomka added.

"We played a really good first half and could even have gone 2-0 up because we had the better chances.

"I always have a good feeling about Kevin and he is very dangerous."

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