Aberdeen told how to improve as bizarre penalty incident against Strasbourg addressed

The Dons cannot qualify for the knockout stages of the competition and go into next week's final match away at Sparta Prague with nothing but pride and prize money to play for. They have two points from five matches and sit 33rd in the table.

Thelin expressed pride at the way his team battled with the French Ligue 1 side - who are now top of the Conference League - said that the "small margins" at this level show where his team needs to improve.

“I am proud of the players for the way we performed, but of course we are disappointed with the result," said Thelin. “We have learned a lot but it’s small margins at this level. We saw when we got the draw they were strong teams.

“We have played some good teams but it has shown us what we need to do to get to the next level. We have seen what we need to do to be stronger in the future. The team has grown from the first game in Europe to this one, we showed like a different team now.

“We started well, pressed well, created some good chances and the set plays were strong. Strasbourg scored so we had to push the game and were more open. There were two really good goalkeepers today.

“We were so close through Marko Lazetic and Adil Aouchiche, but we didn’t manage to score. I’m proud of the players for the way we tried. We showed our fans we needed to win this game.

“I am proud of how they grew during the season. If you compare with the early games, we were more open at the start but we are learning and improving. I liked the intensity we showed in this game, we showed we can do it.

“For some parts of the second half we gave them too much space between our lines. I liked it when we were compact and intense in our pressing. We have to keep pushing now to take the further steps to becoming a better team."

Strasbourg manager Liam Rosenior praised his players for handling the conditions at Pittodrie and explained a curious situation when striker Joaquin Panichelli, who had just come on as a substitute, tried to take the ball from Ismael Doukoure for a 70th-minute penalty. The latter's effort was saved by Dimitar Mitov.

"I'm very, very happy," said Rosenior. "It's not easy to come to Aberdeen in December and win. For the penalty, I wanted Pani to take it because he has scored lots of goals, but the message did not get through to Doukoure. What I liked was after the miss, Pani hugged him straight away."