Ståle: Brugge victory a confidence boost

Ståle Solbakken insists there are positives to be gained from FC Copenhagen’s exit from the Champions League.

The Lions beat Club Brugge 2-0 on Wednesday to finish with nine points in the group stage.

But it still was not enough to progress to the last-16, with Porto beating Group G winners Leicester 5-0 to take the second place.

Copenhagen will be in the pot for Monday’s Europa League last-32 draw - and the win in Belgium means the team will be seeded.

And Ståle believes the victory will help the players when they return for knockout football in the spring.

“It was important for us to finish well and we knew we probably would not get help down in Porto,” Ståle said.

“But if victory means anything, it means something to us as a club and for the history books - and not least it means something for our seeding in the Europa League.

“In addition, of course there is also more money for the club, the players get stronger self confidence and we get a great end to a great group stage.”

Discussing the campaign, in which Copenhagen lost only one game and conceded just two goals, Ståle added: “Maybe as a coach I could have done things differently, for example in the away game against Porto where Jan Gregus got a red card.

“But maybe the small difference was that although we have been good defensively, we have perhaps lacked the player with the x-factor that could win it for us.

“But we almost matched up against Leicester, we had two great chances at the end of both games, we have two good matches against Porto and were clearly better than Bruges.

“Now we play in the Europa League and the matches in the spring mean a lot to us - even if they are a little difficult compared to our retune to Superliga action.”