Nilsson: - We will be ready again for Sunday

25/08 2011 09:28

With last night’s 2-1 defeat to Czech champions FC Viktoris Plzen, FC Copenhagen have missed out in qualifying for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. But that's football sometimes, and now the Lions look forward to participation in the UEFA Europa League instead.

by Joe Short

In his post-match press conference, Roland Nilsson stated now was not the time to think about identifying what could have been done differently:

- It is too early to say whether I would have done anything about it, I just need time to mull over a little. But we were unfortunately not good enough to qualify for the Champions League. We played a good first half today, but were not good enough in the second half, where we lost the ball far too often.

The Swedish head coach was clearly disappointed:

- Obviously it's a disappointment not to progress, but this is something what happens in football. We will be disappointed for a few days but then we will be ready again for Sunday, and I can only say that we have to train hard and work to achieve our goals.

Copenhagen sporting director Carsten V. Jensen had this to say:

- The team from last year had been together for several years to play European competition, but this team has only had 6-8 weeks, and it was not enough. Plzen deserved to win. With a little luck the outcome might have been different, but we recognise that we were not good enough, and that we must continue working with the team.

- Plzen have built a squad over a few years and are now at their peak. We couldn’t match them with the time we had available, so now we head to the Europa League. Football is not just a bed of roses, and I am of course confident that we'll be back on track soon.

Copenhagen’s captain Mathias Zanka was annoyed by the result, but also looked forward to the Europa League:

- It's bitter not to be in the Champions League, and a little annoying not to play games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, but we must also be honest enough to say that we were not good enough over the two matches. Now the European League awaits, and here the objective is to proceed from the group, so we can once again play European football next spring.