Neestrup lauds Lions in City draw

F.C. Copenhagen head coach Jacob Neestrup said his players delivered the perfect performance in Tuesday's UEFA Champions League draw with Manchester City, even if the dream result was out of their grasp.

Kamil Grabara saved a penalty and Lukas Lerager could have won it for the Lions against 10-man City in Parken.

Discussing the game, Neestrup said: "Perfect, balanced and… as expected in relation to the performance, but not the result.

"I think we are incredibly good at alternating our press. We went high on them at the right times and we tried to take the initiative without the ball. I think we were already doing that 11 against 11.

"We were extremely coordinated when we stood deep, and we delivered when we pressed high too. We were good at keeping tight across team, and we didn't panic when they played through us.

"On the ball we also looked secure in the early stages of the game, but we just needed that end product to be dangerous enough.

"We tried to have the ball longer than we managed in Manchester and to be more calm, and we succeeded in that. But there were just a few situations at the end of the game where some of our young players lacked a little experience.

"So the result was not expected, but the performance was expected in relation to the fact that we were playing a European game in Parken.

"We restricted them to very few chances. The penalty was unlucky, their disallowed goal was not a chance, it's an insane shot from a long way out and that's more or less what they had.

"It is first and foremost a team performance and I am particularly impressed with how we can change so quickly from playing 4-3-3 to today's 3-4-3 or 5-4-1, call it what you will. It's good work by the coaching staff and players.

"I don't want to say that's a secret behind the result, but we think we've seen in some of their previous games that they've had a bit of difficulty pressing against a three-man defence. That's maybe the only weakness they have, so that's why we did it today. Of course it's nice, against them in particular, to have an extra player on the field.

“There was a lot of talk about injuries leading up to the game, but we have a European-class talent department and it deserves huge recognition. And then there are also established players who are extremely good. Lukas centrally, Boile and Khocholava in defence, Claesson… the old ones offer a lot of calm and the young ones provide some opportunism, and that also gives us the balance I talked about, which was really, really strong tonight."