Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez chose to concentrate on the positives after the Blues crashed out of Champions League Wednesday, despite scoring an impressive 6-1 win over FC Nordsjaelland.
Progress to the last-16 was not in Chelsea's hands, after their defeat to Juventus on matchday five, the game that eventually cost Roberto Di Matteo his job, put the Italians in pole position for qualification, with Shakhtar already ensuring progress from Group E.
Juve did not slip up in Ukraine, posting a 1-0 win to not just progress, but also top the group, with Shakhtar finishing second. Chelsea will now have to settle for playing in the Europa League, after becoming the first club to be knocked out of the Champions League group stages while defending their title.
Chelsea romped to a big victory at Stamford Bridge, with Fernando Torres finally finding some form, scoring two goals. David Luiz, Gary Cahill, Juan Mata and Oscar added the other four.
"If we had won just 1-0 or 2-1 then maybe the players will only think it is a pity, but at the moment we can see they are not happy but there is also the feeling they did well today, suggesting the future can be good," Benitez said.
"The game between Shakhtar and Juventus was out of our hands so we had to do our job and as a manager I have to be really pleased with the performance of the team -- 32 attempts, 18 on target, six goals and a lot of clear chances.
"You have to think about the positives but you have to be really disappointed because you cannot progress in the Champions League.
"It is always important to win but more than just winning was the way we won -- and we saw character, commitment, intensity, chances and good play. Everything you are looking for.
"I am sure that playing at the level we played today we can do whatever we want, but we have to start with the next game."
Benitez was brought into Chelsea, amid much discontent, to bring out the best in Torres, and the Spaniard was happy to see his compatriot return to goalscoring form.
"The team played well and I said before if the team plays well Torres will score goals," Benitez added.
"Yesterday I was watching him in the training session and he was little bit sharp with more confidence, and today he was fine and the rest of team was also helping because we were playing good football with intensity.
"Torres showed his desire and his quality and if we can play at this level he can score more goals."
The Europa League is seen by many clubs as a hindrance more than anything, and with Chelsea in danger of losing sight of Premier League leaders Manchester United and Manchester City, it is a tournament that Benitez might have been glad to not have to worry about.
However, the former Liverpool manager insisted his side would now look to win the Europa League title.
"The Europa League is not important if you don't win it but when you are in the semi-final or the final everyone wants to win, so we want to go as far as we can," he said.
"Every competition is important for us so we will try to do our best and try to challenge and win it if we can."
