Neestrup looks ahead to Breidablik clash
F.C. Copenhagen head coach Jacob Neestrup says the hard work to reach a European group stage this season won't let up as his team prepare to face Breidablik in the UEFA Champions League second qualifying round on Tuesday.
The FCK squad landed in Keflavik on Monday evening after training in Copenhagen earlier in the day. New arrival Elias Achouri was able to train with his teammates for the first time at Number 10, before joining the squad on the trip to Iceland.
The decision to train in Copenhagen before flying out to Tuesday's stadium, rather than train on Monday afternoon in Iceland, is one that FCK have done before on previous European ventures.
And Neestrup says there is logic to the practice.
"When we play matches every three or four days, we think we get a better rhythm by training at home in Copenhagen and then traveling afterwards. Then the players can rest and go out in the evening instead of having to go out and train after a flight and bus to the hotel, and then out to the stadium," says Neestrup.
"We are preparing no differently than if we were to meet Manchester City or Dortmund, but we are of course well aware that this time we are favorites to progress, but we must also be able to live up to that."
UEFA conducted the draw for the third qualifying round on Monday, meaning victory over Breidablik across two legs would result in a clash against Sparta Prague.
"We have fought for a whole season to get here, where we can play in a European group stage and of course most preferably in the Champions League. Over two games we must also be able to knock out Breidablik, and only then will I talk about what awaits in the next round," adds Neestrup.
"We are of course aware of the draw, but as always we have a lot of respect for our opponent, and Breidablik deserve that too, so I don't want to deal with Sparta Prague at all now. Only about what we do in the two games against Breidablik so that it will be us who get to face them.
"If we play up to our level, then we should progress, but Breidablik are a team with plenty of strengths, especially offensively, and with good players who know each other well after playing together for a long time.
"The fact that we play on artificial grass on Tuesday makes no difference to us, but it always makes a difference in the game in general. It is, for example, more difficult to play a pressing game, to change direction and to stop when you have sprinted. But that's how it is, and we know that very well, because we also play on artificial grass in Farum and Silkeborg, so it's not something that worries me at all."
'Nice to be back'
The trip to Iceland was also a journey back in time to a period when Neestrup himself lived in Iceland and played football for FH.
“It's great to be back! I've been here a few times since I lived here 11 or 12 years ago, and I still have friends up here, and Iceland is a really nice island and a very special place on earth," says the head coach.
"I was happy with the stay at FH (in Hafnarfjördur) and enjoyed my time up here, where I gained some good experiences and had good teammates. If you ask them, I hope they will say that while maybe I wasn't that good at football, I was a good person.
“It was also the last place I played as an active player before I became a coach. It wasn't something I came up with when I was here, but some time after I had returned home to Denmark, where I then started in the FCK Talent Department.
Regarding the FCK Talent Department, the Icelandic press on Monday were naturally very interested in hearing of Neestrup's views on Orri Óskarsson facing the club where his father, Oskar Hrafn Thorvaldsson, is head coach.
"It is of course special for both Orri and his father, but they are professionals and both know that they have a job to do," says Neestrup.
"I haven't spoken to Orri about his father's team either, because I don't want to put him in that situation. We have the information we have about Breidablik from our opponent analyst Nicklas Pedersen, who has seen them live several times both here in Iceland and in Dublin, and we have also seen a lot of video and, among other things, the two matches they played against Istanbul Basaksehir last year.
"So we are as always well prepared, because we have a lot of respect for Breidablik and their qualities, so it won't be easy. We have to work hard and play to our best, and beat them over two games."