FC Kobenhavn vs FC Porto - FC Copenhagen strike duo missing for Porto clash
Posted Monday, November 21, 2016 by PA
FC Copenhagen strikers Andreas Cornelius and Federico Santander have been ruled out of Tuesday's Champions League clash with Porto.
Cornelius pulled a hamstring in the 2-1 win over AaB on Friday night and Santander has yet to recover from a thigh injury sustained on international duty with Paraguay.
"This of course makes a difference in terms of our offensive game, we have less power at set pieces and less physicality in the box," manager Stale Solbakken told the club website.
"It is hard to say how it affects our chances. They are probably not increased, but we could also have had problems even with Santander and Cornelius on the pitch, because we face a really good Porto side."
Copenhagen are third in Group G, two points behind second-placed Porto and Solbakken has targeted maximum points from their final two games.
They battled to a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture in September and face a Porto side who were knocked out of the Portuguese cup on penalties after a 0-0 draw against Chaves on Friday.
"It's still a very strong team with many good players, and we saw this recently when they played the top match against Benfica (a 1-1 draw) in the league," added Solbakken.
"We also showed in the first leg down there that we can fight, and also in our other Champions League games we played up to our best, and we must also do that on Tuesday.
"I think we have to win both of the final games if we are to continue to the last 16.
"We still have a strong organisation and a very solid defence, and then we compensate offensive power with quick feet."
Porto's teenage forward Diogo Jota sees the trip to Denmark as the perfect opportunity to get their domestic cup disappointment out of their system.
"The Portuguese Cup is a historic competition, we wanted to reach the final and win," he told the club website.
"We're out, so now we have to think of other competitions."
Mexican midfielder Hector Herrera, a reported target for Liverpool, is in the Porto squad despite his recent performances coming under scrutiny.
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