Neestrup: We're in Baku to win

F.C. Copenhagen head coach Jacob Neestrup says the team is in Baku to bring all three points home from tonight's UEFA Champions League clash with Qarabag.

The Lions get their second League Phase match underway at 6:45pm and the boss is looking forward to the challenge. 

"It is difficult to assess the strength between us and Qarabag, but I would say it's 50/50 when we are playing away. In any case, we are coming here to win, and we must take home at least one point," says Neestrup.

Qarabag, like us, had to go through six qualifying matches to reach the League Phase.

"I always respect clubs that have to fight their way through qualification, and Qarabag have also done it the long way," Neestrup says. "Of course, we have studied their matches thoroughly, and they were especially good against Ferencvaros, whom they deservedly knocked out in the playoff.

“They have a lot of good offensive players, and they are good at transitions, and you can see that this is a team that is used to playing in Europe. Even though they haven’t been in the Champions League in recent years, they have played regularly, especially in the Europa League.

"So they are a team that you have to take seriously, and we always do that when we have to play these games. It is part of the European experience that we have built up over many years.”

In recent years, FCK have chosen to train at Number 10 the day before European away games and then fly out in the afternoon. However, Neestrup explained why this time the coaching team chose a different option.

"We could have flown down today (Tuesday) and also traveled home right after the game, but this time we chose to travel on Monday and wait to fly home until Thursday afternoon," says the boss.

"Among other things, because it is a longer trip than we usually do, and there is a couple of hours of time difference, we considered that this was the best way for us to prepare for the game. And then we still have two days at home to prepare for the Midtjylland game in Parken on Sunday.

"The pitch could be better but it is the same for both teams, so that should not be an excuse. It is of course something that we have to deal with, but we have to be able to resolve it."