Thomas Frank has heaped praise on his Brentford squad following their promotion to the Premier League.
The Bees will play in the competition for the first time next season after beating Swansea 2-0 in the play-off final.
Ivan Toney and Emiliano Marcondes scored to give them a comfortable victory in front of 12,000 fans at Wembley.
Ranking the 12 English Champions League final performances
Brentford got off to a dream start as Freddie Woodman gifted them a penalty 10 minutes in. He caught Bryan Mbeumo in the box, allowing Toney to put the Bees ahead with a confidently dispatched spot kick.
Frank’s side made it two in the 20th minute through Emiliano. After a swift counter attack, Mads Roerslev crossed for Emiliano. The 26-year-old beat Woodman with a first-time finish to put Brentford in a commanding position.
It was nearly three soon afterwards as Toney rattled the crossbar with a brilliant half-volley.
Brentford gave Swansea no route back into the game, and their opponents’ task was made even harder in the second half.
Jay Fulton was shown a red card for a bad challenge on Mathias Jensen in the 65th minute.
The Bees kept Swansea at bay to secure promotion, which will be made even sweeter after their defeat in the final last year.
Reacting to the win, Frank told Sky Sports (via BBC Sport): “I’m completely empty right now. I don’t know if I can describe it. It’s been such a long journey.
“There’s been ups and downs…”
It was at that point Frank was taken away by his players for more celebrations.
Once he returned, the Danish manager continued: “This group of players is incredible. Everyone has played a major part in this.
“Somebody said to me that we need two hands and 10 fingers to lift the trophy and we have done it on our 10th attempt.
“The feeling was calm and relaxed and ready to be ruthless. We didn’t talk about last year. We focused on this.
“Right now I want to get drunk and then worry about the Premier League tomorrow!”
It’s been an incredible journey for the west London side. They were taken over by current owner Matthew Benham in 2012, when they were in League One.
He’s instilled a hugely successful ‘Moneyball’ approach at the club and helped to fund a new stadium, preparing them for life in the Premier League.
The post Frank hails ‘incredible’ Brentford stars after play-off win appeared first on Football365.