Georgia coach Willy Sagnol said he did not believe they had qualified until the final whistle blew, revealing that Manchester United’s 1999 Champions League final comeback against Bayern Munich, a year before joining to the German team, was on his mind in the closing stages.

“If you want me to be honest, it was only when the referee blew the final whistle (that I believed),” the Frenchman said at a press conference.

“Football has generated many stories like that, when you think that you are winning and losing in the last minute, Bayern against United comes to mind. I was looking at the time, every 10 seconds, and in the end I felt very empty” . .

“We dreamed of qualifying, but we didn’t think it was feasible. I thought we had reached our peak with qualification in March, but football is never written in advance," -  Sagnol said.