fc københavn midfielder william kvist tells uefa.com why the danish titleholders are relishing their return to the uefa champions league and why they can do better than first time round.
after emerging victorious from a thrilling all-scandinavian contest against norwegian champions rosenborg bk, fc københavn will step back on to european football's biggest stage on tuesday night and william kvist, for one, does not hide his excitement. "this is huge," the fck midfielder told uefa.com. "it will be a challenge, but one we are looking forward to – the atmosphere is electric."
the danish titleholders embark on their first uefa champions league campaign since 2006 with a home match against russian side fc rubin kazan and kvist is optimistic about their chances of playing european football beyond christmas. that said, kvist, who will most likely captain his side with hjalte nørregaard expected to start on the bench, considers the opening fixture as potentially key in a section that also includes fc barcelona and panathinaikos fc.
"it is very important that we avoid defeat and hopefully secure all three points," he said. "our goal is to qualify for the next stage whether it is the knockout round of the champions league or the europa league. of course we hope for the best, but we are also realistic and know that it will be extremely difficult to finish second behind barcelona, but we are confident and have prepared well."
after last term's disappointing play-off defeat against cypriot side apoel fc, fck made amends against rosenborg but it was a close call. in the first leg in norway, the danish titleholders were on the back foot for most of the match and had rade prica's 81st-minute effort not hit the post they would have been 3-0 down and all but eliminated. instead jesper grønkjær reduced the deficit three minutes later and in the return at parken, københavn secured a well deserved 1-0 victory and qualification on the away-goals rule.
kvist believes they are better equipped than on their competition debut in 2006/07. "we have played a lot of european matches in recent seasons which have made us a better side. we are now more of a short passing side compared to our last champions league adventure. back then we were better defensively and physically stronger but now we have more strings in our attack and find creating chances easier. hopefully we can get a good start but it will be difficult as rubin are not a team that you just beat easily." the sense of respect is evidently mutual judging by rubin midfielder aleksandr orekhov's assessment of their hosts. "fc københavn are a strong team," he said. "they play as a unit and have good offensive players."
patience paid off for ståle solbakken's fc københavn with what fc rubin kazan coach kurban berdyev called "a second of slackness" handing the danish side a 1-0 group d win.
ståle solbakken was almost honoured that fc rubin kazan had come to denmark to neutralise fc københavn's game plan, and even more delighted that – in visiting coach kurban berdyev's words – "a second of slackness" handed his side a 1-0 uefa champions league group d win.
ståle solbakken, coach
this was the first time a great team have come here with the sole purpose of spoiling our tactics. they played with five players at the back in order to stop our defenders and wingers, and the tactic worked. we had problems getting into positions to make crosses, but we had the necessary patience and got our goal in the end. they had a number of players who have not played much during the past month so we knew we would get the upper hand as the game went on.
kurban berdyev, rubin coach
we conceded because of a second of slackness. it is a painful defeat. i don't think we deserved to lose. we had a few good chances but unfortunately that's the way it is. we were made to pay for poor finishing because we created big chances. five minutes from time we had a three-on-two break and we should have put it away, then the job would have been done.
