Neestrup proud of 2-2 draw with Leverkusen

F.C. Copenhagen battled to a 2-2 draw with Bayer Leverkusen in the first League Phase game of the new Champions League season – and many home supporters left Parken Stadium disappointed after the Lions came within seconds of claiming all three points.

FCK took the lead through Jordan Larsson's first-time finish from Elias Achouri's cross on nine minutes.

Jacob Neestrup's men held that lead until the 82nd minute, when Alejandro Grimaldo levelled for the visitors.

Robert Silva then put FCK back in front with just three minutes of normal time remaining, only for a Pantelis Hatzidiakos own goal in stoppage time to force the draw.

“Of course it’s a shame not to win when you’re ahead 2-1 in the 87th minute, so that (disappointment) is completely understandable," said Neestrup afterwards.

"But we have to move on, because there’s another match on Sunday that we have to do everything we can to win.

“I think the players did that tonight too, and I can’t ask for more. Yes, it was a shame (not to win), but it’s still a good result, and looking at the whole match, a draw is probably the fair result of a game that was very even.

“We showed that we are not only a good football team, but also a good Champions League team, and as expected we invited them to play and came into the contest with our qualities. I would have gone home very disappointed if we had not performed like we can – those are the expectations we should have of ourselves.

“We were aware that they would probably have the ball a lot, and that we would have to defend at times, but I think we were at our best in the first 20 minutes after the break, after which we came under a lot of pressure towards the end.

"But I'm satisfied about the periods when we were better, especially the first 15-20 minutes after the break, when we were good on the ball, played with great width, and our high pressure was good.

"And we also sat back well in the periods when we were second best, so the performance is good."