Cissokho reaching new heights with Porto

As the final whistle blew and the Estádio do Dragão erupted with joy as FC Porto reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since their triumphant 2003/04 campaign, one player in the home ranks must have been pinching himself to make sure it was real.

Meteoric rise
Aly Cissokho was plying his trade in the French second tier with FC Gueugnon at this point last year. The left-back arrived in Portugal in the summer of 2008, signing for Vitória FC, and made such an impression in his first five months in the Liga that Jesualdo Ferreira had no hesitation in making the 21-year-old his first addition of the winter transfer window. "This is something else for me," Cissokho told uefa.com. "I've just arrived at Porto, it's my first time at a big club, and it's a long way away from the level where I started in France.

Tough adaptation
"In January, I had the chance to sign for Porto and with it the opportunity to play in the Champions League," continued Cissokho. "You have to raise your level straight away and it's not easy. It's the top level. You're playing against international players, the best players in the world, so you have to have twice as much concentration as before."

English challenge
Having reached the last eight in his first season in the UEFA Champions League, the Blois-born defender is well aware the opposition will only get tougher. "There are some big teams in the competition," he said. "There are lots of the English teams in there who are always difficult to play against, so we have to get ready to put in a big performance so we can qualify for the semi-finals."

'Very content'
His captain Lucho was happy just to savour the moment after making the last eight for the first time since he arrived in northern Portugal from CA River Plate in 2005. "We're very content," he said. "I think we put in a great performance, and it's a very happy dressing room. Even though there are lots of strong teams left in the competition, we got the better of a strong opponent in this round so we can be happy."

Nothing to fear
The Argentinian international concluded: "We'll take whichever team comes up [in the draw]. They will all be difficult to play against. First we owe it to ourselves to enjoy this moment, and then we'll start working towards the next stage."