Neestrup delight at 3-1 win in Heidenheim
Jacob Neestrup has praised his "broad squad with strong characters" after F.C. Copenhagen beat Heidenheim 4-3 on aggregate in the UEFA Conference League on Thursday to progress to the last-16.
Rodrigo Huescas' extra-time goal sent the Lions through with a 3-1 victory on the night in Germany.
"We put ourselves under a lot of pressure by losing the first game in Parken, even though we dominated into the second half, but it's really impressive of our new team to come here and win a game like that," said Neestrup afterwards.
"We started both halves well and were in good control until they reduced it to 2-1. We then came under a lot of pressure, but managed to resist well.
“You have to remember that a year ago we played in the Champions League last-16 (against Manchester City) with a completely different team, so I think it’s great that we can build a new team and still manage to play in a European tournament at the last-16 stage. It shows that you can still count on F.C. Copenhagen, even though we are in a building phase.”
Amin Chiakha and Kevin Diks put the Lions two up in Heidenheim and Neestrup explained his selection choices for the match.
“We changed a lot today and I wasn’t nervous about that at all," he said. "It has been planned for a long time, regardless of how the first game in Parken went, so that we had the necessary freshness to play games this week on Monday, Thursday and Sunday.
“It just shows that we have a broad squad with strong characters, with a lot of talent and lots of potential. And yes, Gocholeishvili and Huescas were in a bit of an unfamiliar position, but they have both played offensively on the right wing at their previous clubs. And we had to think a little creatively, since Claesson, among others, was not there tonight.”
FCK will discover the last-16 opponents at UEFA's draw today (2pm CET), with the Lions due to face either Chelsea or Vitória S.C. in the last-16.
“Everyone gave their all tonight, and I could pinpoint many who delivered a huge performance," said Neestrup. "I have no preference on whether we draw Chelsea or Vitoria tomorrow, the most important thing is just that we are through and get another round of European football.
“Of course we can enjoy the victory here tonight, but now the first thing is to do everything we can to get ready for the next big match on Sunday in Parken against FC Midtjylland."
The FCK squad spent the night in Heidenheim and are flying home to Copenhagen on Friday. We will provide fixture and ticket updates when the last-16 draw is made.