claudemir is readying himself for "the biggest game" of his career on tuesday as fc københavn welcome panathinaikos fc knowing a win would guarantee progress to the last 16.
claudemir is gearing up for "the biggest game" of his career on tuesday as fc københavn host group d rivals panathinaikos fc knowing victory would propel them through to the knockout phase.
with fc barcelona already assured of top spot in the section, københavn lie one point ahead of fc rubin kazan in second and need only match the russian club's result at camp nou to progress. "i think it's the biggest game of my career, and not just for me but for the whole team here," said midfielder claudemir.
"we have the ability and our aim is to qualify for the next round, and we know that depends on us and no one else. we have a good chance of winning and getting through to the next phase." indeed, opponents panathinaikos are certain of finishing bottom whatever happens and were beaten 2-0 when the danish titleholders visited on matchday 2. yet claudemir expects them to prove tough opponents.
"it's another difficult game," said the 22-year-old. "we know a bit about them having played them at their place, but we can't assume it'll be an easy match just because they are last in the group. we know we have the potential as we're a good team as well. we know we can get a good result."
snapped up from dutch club vitesse in the summer, the box-to-box player insists he and his team-mates will not be distracted by events in catalonia as they chase victory. "obviously barcelona are favourites in any contest they're involved in, but we can't think about that game," he said. "i'm sure the fans will be watching our game and listening to the other [on the radio], but we players have to stay focused on our match."
claudemir's last appearance at the parken stadion in the competition brought him fck's equaliser in a 1-1 draw with barcelona on matchday 4 – "an incredible experience". he will be looking for more of the same against panathinaikos as he continues repaying the faith of coach ståle solbakken.
"he's supported me and believed in me, because he was the one who saw a dvd of me and asked the board to sign me," explained the brazilian-born youngster. "obviously he's a tough guy but he's very fair; he knows when to demand more and when to support us. he can congratulate and be demanding." fck fans will hope congratulations are in order come the final whistle on tuesday.
københavn became the first danish club through to the last 16 in the uefa champions league era thanks to a comfortable win in copenhagen.
fc københavn will warm themselves with thoughts of the uefa champions league knockout stage this winter after signing off for the year with a win against panathinaikos fc that confirmed second spot in group d.
ståle solbakken's charges knew victory would enshrine them as the first danish club to reach the last 16 in the uefa champions league era and they got off the mark when martin vingaard finished from outside the area in the 26th minute. certain of finishing bottom of the section, the visitors responded with a couple of dangerous moments, but jesper grønkjær eased fck nerves with a 50th-minute penalty before a djibril cissé own goal rounded off a memorable night, cédric kanté's late consolation notwithstanding.
the home side received colourful encouragement from the parken stadion faithful as the teams filed out and they tried to respond in kind by setting a frenetic early tempo, but it was a rhythm they struggled to maintain after vingaard had screwed wide in the first minute. passes began to slip astray from both sets of players and whenever the danish champions did manage to advance, the panathinaikos defence posed a sturdy obstacle.
as a remedy, københavn opted to try their luck from distance, and with their first shot on target they went ahead, vingaard half-volleying into the far corner from 20 metres after being found by cristián bolaños on the right. soon afterwards, claudemir drew a leaping save from alexandros tzorvas with an even more audacious effort, and from the subsequent corner grønkjær headed marginally wide.
those misses were almost made to look costly as the half came to a close with johan wiland rushing to the edge of his area, failing to clear and needing to stretch out an arm to deny stergos marinos. the københavn goalkeeper was then called immediately into action as play resumed, jumping forward to thwart substitute sebastian leto, so there was palpable relief around the ground when grønkjær buried from the spot after being fouled by nikos spyropoulos.
despite their cushion, the home side showed no inclination to sit back and ought to have scored again when dame n'doye rounded tzorvas and rolled the ball against a post. a third goal nonetheless proved forthcoming as cissé nodded into his own net from a vingaard corner, and kanté's last-gasp header did little to quell the building euphoria in the stands.
