Dani Alves is confident his former club Sevilla have the quality to advance in the Champions League despite their 3-1 loss at home to Juventus on Tuesday.
Alves, 33, spent six seasons at Sevilla before moving to Barcelona in 2008 and started for Juventus at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.
The result in Seville allowed the Italian side to qualify for the next stage of the competition, but Sevilla still need a point in their final game against Lyon to be sure of a place in the round of 16.
Alves, who joined Juve as a free agent this summer, told Cadena Ser: "I have a lot of appreciation for Sevilla but when I go out on the pitch, I'm very competitive for my team. [But] I hope that Sevilla can go as far as possible. I think this team has already shown that it is capable of a lot. I will be supporting them."
Sevilla are looking to advance from the group stage of the Champions League for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign.
Sevilla players and their coach, Jorge Sampaoli, were upset about Mark Clatternberg's refereeing decisions during Tuesday's game.
The hosts felt Franco Vazquez's sending-off in the 36th minute after the forward had been shown two yellow cards in quick succession was harsh and that it changed the game, with Juve's Claudio Marchisio cancelling out Nicolas Pareja's opener before the break.
Second-half goals from Leonardo Bonucci and Mario Mandzukic put the game beyond Sevilla's reach, while they also had Sampaoli sent off for protesting.
Alves, nevertheless, believes his side were worthy winners.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game but we played very well," he said. "We were solid throughout the game and we deserved the win."
The loss was Sevilla's first in the competition this season and dropped them to second in Group H, one point adrift of Juve and three clear of Lyon with one game remaining.
Sevilla sporting director Monchi says his team must move on from Tuesday's disappointment.
He told Cadena Ser: "I'm just angry with the defeat. The rest is part of the game and we have no influence on that, including refereeing."
Sevilla can still top the group if they win at Lyon on Dec. 7 and Juve do not prevail at home to Dinamo Zagreb. Sampaoli's side can progress in second if they avoid losing by two goals in France next month.
The third-place team will go on to play in the Europa League, a competition that Sevilla know well having won it the last three seasons in a row and a record five times overall.
"We have a difficult game at Lyon," Monchi said. "But I trust my team. We will go to Lyon determined to go through but we will have to play at our best. We need to continue to play like we are doing."