Manchester – Coach Lars Friis was satisfied with the way Sparta’s players played the first half of their Champions League third round match against favorites Manchester City, after which they lost 0-1. According to him, however, after the second conceded goal, the huge difference between the two teams became apparent. Letenští finally suffered a debacle 0:5. The author of two goals, Erling Haaland, who scored the first goal with an acrobatic finish with his heel, was described by Friis as a first-class player. He said this at a press conference.
In the battle between the two reigning champions of their respective countries, the team from Prague did not start well and lost after two and a half minutes after Phil Foden’s goal. “After the first goal, I had a lot of things going through my head. I’m pretty happy with the first half, how we handled it. We had the half chances we wanted. We didn’t use them. We had a few breaks. We knew it was going to be it’s hard to make something out of an open game,” said Friis.
The match finally broke between the 58th and 68th minutes, when the home team struck three times. In the end, they added a fifth hit. “After the first goal it was decent, after the second there was a huge difference in practically every aspect. I can’t blame the boys, we played against the best team and players in the world,” said the 48-year-old Dane.
Haaland made it 2:0. The Norwegian gunner scored in the air with his heel despite having his back to the goal. “Up until then we had defended him quite well, I have to give credit to the boys for that. What can I say about his finishing? I already praised him before the game. He is a first-class player, maybe the best, who scores all kinds of goals. He defends hard. He showed what did we know. I think we defended him decently, but then he suddenly emerged and scored such a goal,” said Friis.
Sparta stayed on four points in the Champions League after an opening 3-0 win over Salzburg and a 1-1 draw in Stuttgart. “We’re never happy to lose like that. The game gave us a lot of experience. We came up against the best team and players in the world. It shows that we still have a few steps to go to get to where we want to be. This is an absolute highlight that you can meet. From that point of view, it’s a good experience,” said Friis.
“I praised the boys at half-time for what they did. We have to move on. We will look at the game one or two more times. It was a good experience, it could have been better, but it is difficult to play against a team like that if you concede very early against a team like that . Then it’s difficult,” said the former coach of Viborg and Aalborg.
At halftime, he replaced winger Lukáš Haraslín, who was holding his hamstring at the end of the opening act. “He felt it a little during the last event. We didn’t want to take any chances, so we replaced him. I can’t tell you how serious it is, because I don’t know,” stated Friis.
Sport football Friis Manchester City AUDIO 3rd round Sparta Champions League
Source: www.ceskenoviny.cz
