Ståle: We ran out of energy

Ståle Solbakken believes FC Copenhagen could have beaten Porto - had the team not run out of steam in the final 25 minutes.

FCK drew 0-0 with Porto in Telia Parken on Tuesday to take qualifying out of Group G of the Champions League down to the final game.

The Lions had the best of the early chances, with Peter Ankersen and Eric Johansson going close.

But as the match wore on FCK tired and Porto almost snatched a win through Andre Sivla, who was twice denied from close range by Robin Olsen.

“We had no power,” Ståle said. “We ran ourselves ragged in the first half. That’s the explanation.

“The three guys behind Andrija Pavlovic invested so much in the first half they couldn’t keep it up, then we made more mistakes.

“The tempo was crazy in the fist 10-15 mins, then it died a bit. We couldn’t have asked for any more. We created three chances and they were not even close to scoring.”

Strikers Andreas Cornelius and Federico Santander missed the game through injury.

“We attacked with the ball and played like we hoped without strikers and played a different type of football in and around the box,” Ståle added.

“But that killed us. Thomas Delaney said he was completely finished after 65 minutes. We didn’t manage to keep the tempo.”

The result means Copenhagen remain two points behind Porto, with a final game in Brugge to come next month. If FCK win in Belgium and Porto fail to beat group leaders Leicester then the Lions will progress to the last-16.

“I am very proud of what we have done in the Champions League,” Ståle said.

“We have been close to perfect defensively and created chances in the last three games without scoring. A Dane at Leicester has prevented us from that and today we had possibilities.

“We’ve played to our maximum level in most of the games. We can only go to Brugge and do our job and hope Leicester’s B team has a good day in Porto.”

Asked if he will call his managerial counterpart Claudio Ranieri and ask already-qualified Leicester to field a strong team against Porto, Ståle said: “I don’t think I am entitled to do that because they deserve to do whatever they like after what they’ve done.

“They have five or six good reserves that can do a good job.

“If Porto has one weakness it is that goals don’t come easy for them. They struggled to score.

“If we had taken the lead before them they maybe would have got a bit stressed. But I wouldn’t put my house on it. First of all we have to do our job but it’s still difficult.”