fc twente no1 nikolay mihaylov says his side go to sv werder bremen with a positive outlook but knows they must "play a little bit better" than when the teams drew two weeks ago.
fc twente must improve at both ends of the field against sv werder bremen if they are to have any chance of moving into contention in uefa champions league group a, says nikolay mihaylov.
the goalkeeper was part of the team which drew 1-1 with bremen in enschede on matchday 3, conceding a late equaliser to marko arnautović after theo janssen's 75th-minute goal looked to have earned twente a maiden group-stage win. while mihaylov is promising a bold approach in the hope of gaining a victory which could lift them into second, the 22-year-old knows twente must raise their game for what he considers to "a more difficult" assignment than when the sides met two weeks ago.
"we have to play a little bit better, both offensively and defensively," said mihaylov, who scored an own goal against the bundesliga club while playing for pfc levski sofia in october 2006. "we are going to try to score goals and we're going there to get some points, maybe one or maybe three."
reflecting on the draw between the sides last month, mihaylov said: "it was disappointing because they scored in the 80th minute. it was partly down to a small mistake from ourselves that they equalised, but still they had a couple of chances. we also had a few chances so, in the end, it was the right result."
though disappointed on that occasion, mihaylov has enjoyed a promising campaign thus far having established himself as a no1 for the first in his career. the bulgarian international has not looked back since replacing the injured sander boschker at the start of the season, performing so well at home and abroad that twente's experienced goalkeeper has been unable to regain his place.
"i am feeling very happy because i have been here for two years," explained mihaylov, who initially joined the eredivisie outfit on loan from liverpool fc prior to making the arrangement permanent in 2009 after failing to dislodge pepe reina at anfield. "i played two good games against sporting lisbon last year but after that i didn't get the chance to play.
"sander boschker played all the games and we became champions so it was a good season for the team. now i'm happy that i'm playing, that i'm helping my team and we're doing well. i just want it to stay that way and to stay fit, that's the most important thing for me."
a game of numerous chances looked to be heading for a goalless draw until two late efforts gave twente their first uefa champions league win.
fc twente scored twice in the final nine minutes to beat sv werder bremen and record their first uefa champions league win.
twente capitalised after bremen captain torsten frings had been sent off 15 minutes from time. luuk de jong's 84th-minute header set the seal on victory after nacer chadli's deflected shot had broken the deadlock just three minutes before to give the dutch champions' ambitions of reaching the knockout stages a major boost.
bremen had come through last season's uefa europa league tie between the pair thanks to an explosive start at home in the second leg and although they again began brightly, an end product to their promising approach play was conspicuously absent.
twente had significantly less of the ball but threatened to do more with it. chadli's angled cross allowed marc janko to stretch bremen's third-choice goalkeeper sebastian mielitz with a header before the austria forward twice burst clear only to be halted by a pair of impeccably timed challenges from wesley.
as bremen's unfamiliar back four, which not only featured wesley but also fellow midfielder frings, just about held twente at bay, the german hosts' vaunted attack came desperately close to putting them ahead. claudio pizarro's low shot ricocheted off a post and hugo almeida was unable to turn the ball in with the goal unguarded.
mielitz had already denied bryan ruiz before half-time and the 21-year-old produced an even better stop to prevent chadli's acrobatic effort just after the restart. chadli did get the better of the home goalkeeper soon after, but the same post that had denied pizarro in the first half this time come to bremen's rescue.
nikolay mihaylov was also given the opportunity to shine in a frenetic spell, turning aside a fierce wesley drive before compounding almeida's frustrations by instinctively parrying a point-blank header and then stretching to dispossess the portuguese international, who had escaped a static twente rearguard.
the match, though, would tip definitively the visitors' way when frings was sent off for hauling back ruiz with the costa rican through on goal. first, chadli exploited the greater space, cutting inside before firing a shot that deflected off per mertesacker to elude the prone mielitz. chadli was involved again as twente gave themselves the ideal tonic ahead of their matchday 5 trip to face fc internazionale milano, the belgian forward flicking a delightful pass into the path of ruiz, whose measured cross was headed in by the stooping de jong.
yardımcı hakemler: françois mangen (lux), christian holtgen (lux)
4. hakem: luc wilmes (lux)
çizgi hakemleri: albert toussaint (lux), serge parage (lux)
werder bremen: sebastian mielitz (gk), wesley, marko marin, aaron hunt, sebastian prödl, daniel jensen, torsten frings (c), hugo almeida, claudio pizarro, per mertesacker, philipp bargfrede (dk. 59 marko arnautović)
yedekler: felix wiedwald (gk), mikaël silvestre, said husejinović, felix kroos, sandro wagner, niklas andersen
teknik direktör: thomas schaaf (ger)
twente: nikolay mihaylov (gk), peter wisgerhof (c), rasmus bengtsson (dk. 76 michael schimpelsberger), denny landzaat, luuk de jong (dk. 90+1 mitch stockentree), bryan ruiz, roberto rosales, douglas, marc janko, nacer chadli (dk. 86 dario vujičević), thilo leugers
yedekler: sander boschker (gk), bernard parker, flamur kastrati, ola john
teknik direktör: michel preud'homme (bel)
goller: dk. 81 nacer chadli (0-1) dk. 84 luuk de jong (0-2)
