Copenhagen's view - The Manager Stale Solbakken

Self confessed Liverpool fan, Stale Solbakken the Manager of FC Copenhagen has been speaking ahead of tonight's game. Having not played a competitive game since the turn of the year he believes his side are in good shape and have nothing to fear.

He said:

“Tomorrow is the night we have looked forward to for months, We have been preparing for this match since the start of January and although we haven't had a competitive match in 2011 we are in fine shape and hopefully close to the level we were in the group stage.

The players are buzzing with confidence and I feel we can match Chelsea in what I expect to be a close game. The crowd's belief in us will be a great help: 7,000 of our supporters had confidence that we could win when we played at Camp Nou and with a full stadium tomorrow we will benefit massively. I hope we will win, but a scoreless draw will not be a bad result for us.

We played quite evenly against Barcelona at home, Chelsea are more physical, stronger at set-pieces and have a different kind of team. It's not the same as meeting Barcelona when you know that if you lose the ball, you won't see it for the next three minutes.

We're in fine shape. We very rarely lose at Parken and we have to try to play our natural game. Maybe Chelsea's 120 minutes in the FA Cup on Saturday can even things out a bit. It will be in their legs. I'll be very surprised if it's one-way traffic.

Confidence is very high. Some of my players have only lost one or two games playing in this side. They think it's easy. Some of them are daft enough to think they're a better side than Chelsea. Maybe I should be talking them down a bit.

Maybe my players will be freer to express themselves than Chelsea. This is the last competition they can win, so maybe that will distract them a little bit I’ll be surprised if it’s not an even game.”

For the manager of a side that has only played one friendly since the new year he talks up a good game. Being a Liverpool fan I am sure like the rest of them he is "incensed" that Torres now wears our shirt. He be doing his utmost to make life difficult for him tonight.

However, the fact that Copenhagen are where they are now commands respect and anyone who hold Barcelona to a draw in their own back yard proves that there is something about them. They sit 19 points clear at the top of their league at the half way stage before the winter break for three months (imagine a break that long here, would be horrible wouldn't it!").

There is no question Copenhagen will see Chelsea as a major scalp over these two games. This is no easy game in both legs and we have to be aware and remember that.

KTBFFH.