Ba blames boo-boys for Besiktas exit

The Senegalese forward was critical of how supporters reacted to their struggles against Club Brugge in the Europa League, while Slaven Bilic was shocked at their late capitulation

Demba Ba believes that Besiktas might have reached the last eight of the Europa League on Thursday if their fans had not turned on them in Istanbul.

The Turkish hosts were 1-0 up heading into the final third of the match - which they were trailing 2-1 after the first leg in Belgium - meaning they were heading towards the quarter-finals on away goals, but a trio of strikes from Club Brugge late on left Slaven Bilic's men beaten 5-2 on aggregate.

Former Chelsea forward Ba has criticised the way supporters levelled criticism at Besiktas goalkeeper Tolga Zengin and suggested they could have pushed the game into extra-time at least with the fans on their side.

"We believed in ourselves before the game and outplayed Brugge in first half," he told reporters. "In the second half we scored but, by the end of the game, it was over for us.

"I'm proud of my team-mates because we put in a good performance tonight. The fans should have supported us better when the tie was level at 1-1 - if they had done, maybe we would be in the last eight right now."

Bilic was at a loss to explain what went wrong as treble-chasing Club Brugge earned their first appearance in the last eight of a European tournament since 1995.

"We have played well in first half and scored at the beginning of second half," the ex-Croatia boss said. "Everything was going as we had hoped. However, I did not understand anything after Brugge's first goal on the night.

"Our game plan was changed and suddenly the fans' attitude did, too. It was a disappointment for us. We had a dream we could win this tournament but we could not beat Brugge. They deserved the win, especially for their second-half showing."