"The better team won." That was the assessment of Hapoel Tel Aviv coach Eli Guttman after his team bowed out after suffering a 4-2 aggregate defeat against St Etienne.

Trailing 2-1 from the home leg, they were beaten by the same scoreline with Samuel Yeboah's last-minute strike proving little more than a consolation.

The defeat saw Israel's only remaining team in European competition fail to make the Uefa Cup group stages for the first time in three years.