PSV faces FC Copenhagen in the eighth finals of the Conference League. Head coach Roger Schmidt, who has already faced the team from Denmark once, is looking forward to the double encounter with the Danish club. "A nice draw. But clearly our focus now is on next weekend's match against Sparta Rotterdam."
FC Copenhagen
Schmidt digs into his personal memory shortly after the draw. "My first thoughts are of the games I coached my time at Red Bull Salzburg against them. Besides, Denmark is not a strange ground for us. Earlier this season we already played against FC Mydtjylland and that went well in more ways than one. If we want to achieve something nice in this tournament, we must want and be able to win against every opponent. I think that is also the case against this opponent."
Conference League
The coach indicated that his view of the Conference League turned 180 degrees during the season. "Prior to this season, I doubted the sheer necessity of the Conference League. In my eyes, there was no need to add an additional European tournament and shrink the other tournaments in the number of participants. However, the tournament has surprised me in a positive sense. There are still a lot of strong teams in the last sixteen. We have already played two great matches ourselves."
Absentees
Against Sparta, Schmidt will once again have to make some tough choices. "Phillipp Mwene is not yet fully fit. We had hopes that he could join the group in last week's match against Maccabi Tel Aviv. The final training session unfortunately showed otherwise. We hope he will be present again against Sparta, but I consider that chance small." Also absent are Cody Gakpo, Armando Obispo, Maxime Delanghe, Marco van Ginkel and the long-term absentees Maxi Romero, André Ramalho and Ryan Thomas.
Conditions
"Sparta made it very difficult for us earlier this season until late in the game," Schmidt finally reflected. "They played a very good game defensively. Sparta has access to a good goalkeeper. It will also not be an easy task for us to play on a surface we are not used to. We play three tough away games in six days. I am confident that we will come through that well as a team."