Sevilla manager Unai Emery was full of praise for his team despite their 5-4, extra-time loss to Barcelona in Tbilisi on Tuesday evening.
Pedro's goal gave Barca the win in extra time, which was only necessary after the reigning Europa League champions rallied from 4-1 down to level the score at 4-4 and force an extra 30 minutes -- a fight back that the Sevilla boss was "very proud" of.
"If there's one thing we want to make this team, it is competitive," Emery said after the match.
"We want to go for victory whatever the circumstances. If you can reach the UEFA Super Cup and UEFA Champions League you have to compete with these teams and see how far you can go. We lost tonight but we were competitive throughout and we are very proud of our team.
"The worst thing would have been not to have recognised the Sevilla we want to see. But our message to the fans is that we're excited and optimistic about the challenges ahead."
Emery thought the game was lost as the Catalans ran out to an early 4-1 lead, but goals from Jose Antonio Reyes, Kevin Gameiro and Yevhen Konoplyanka brought Sevilla back into the match.
"When the score was 4-1, clearly our expectations were low so the message was simply that we had to strive to compete until the end," Emery said.
"At 4-1 you score a goal; it's 4-2 and you are getting closer. My aim was to help some tired players and to have players coming onto the pitch to provide solutions. At 4-3 we were pretty close and my team saw the light and that there was hope and then we equalised for 4-4.
"We caught our breath at that point and went into extra time with the possibility of victory. Barcelona did better at set pieces, when everyone was tired. It's hard to find a way through after that, but while it was 5-4 we had three clear chances."
Leo Messi was once again the standout player on the field for Barcelona, scoring twice from free kicks before delivering the ball that Pedro would tuck away for the match-winner.
"I want to congratulate Lionel Messi too -- his ability to play at the highest level with Barcelona and their consistency is what wins them trophies," Emery said.
"There's a huge amount of teamwork behind it. Everyone has their role so that he can make the difference. Can we stop him next time? We'll try."
Sevilla winger Vitolo echoed Emery's sentiments, saying that Messi's magic had been the difference between the two equally matched sides.
"We gave everything and never lowered our arms," he said. "[Barca] have Messi, the greatest player of all-time, and when he's at his best, he's very difficult to stop.
"For me, [Sevilla] were 10/10. What we did [in coming back from behind] was spectacular.
"It's not easy to overcome a 4-1 deficit against Barcelona. We wanted to bring the trophy home to our fans, but it wasn't to be."