Asked if his players had been "humiliated" or fallen into a "ridiculous situation", Rijkaard snapped back: "You can't say that. Simply, we played poorly and lost. It's part of football."

Rijkaard went on after the 4-1 reverse: "This isn't the end of our cycle. You don't drop everything after losing one game. We must just focus on the next one.

"The easiest thing would be to quit, I won't consider that. I am with the team - and more so in the bad times. I am part of the group."