Kenneth Jensen: Yes we can

The two Danish CL teams, Viborg and Ikast-Brande, meet quite often these days… The first match of the Main Round Group 1 will be a Danish derby in Ikast Saturday. And the two teams have just met in their domestic league last Saturday in Viborg.

The teams were equal at the start, but Viborg took the initiative and an 11-goal lead in the second half. Viborg won 30-21 at the end in front of 2,166 fans.

Eurohandball.com asks Kenneth Jensen, head coach Ikast, about the chances in the Champions League after such a defeat.

Eurohandball.com: Do you really believe to have a chance against Viborg on Saturday?

Kenneth Jensen: Well, we have a proverb in Denmark: a fine premiere follows the poor rehearsal. So I definitely think we can do considerably better than we did on Saturday. We were missing key players, Katja Nyberg and Isabell Blanco, who both had minor injuries. We expect them to be fit for the Champions League match. I also think that we can get back to defence more effectively this time and there are other parts of the game where we can improve.

Eurohandball.com: Which parts are these?

Kenneth Jensen: I think that the Viborg coach, Jakob Vestergaard, is reading this website too, so I’m not going to reveal our tactics here. Let me just say that we can still improve some aspects of our game.

Eurohandball.com: Did it surprise you that Viborg started with Louise Bage Due in the goal, after Katrine Lunde Haraldsen has played practically the whole season?

Kenneth Jensen: Frankly, we did not spend much time speculating about their goalkeeper in advance. I’m pretty sure that they will put Lunde back for the Champions League match on Saturday.

Eurohandball.com: Will you not be under too much pressure as you will probably have to win your home games in order to qualify for the semi-finals?

Kenneth Jensen: I don’t think that this match will decide about the semi-finals. Viborg may very well win all their matches in the main round and that will give a great opportunity for us to qualify as number two. Of course we are in a tough group, but it has to be that way when the eight strongest clubs of the entire world are playing.

We have experience of being underdogs in the CL this season after the qualification group, the group stage and now in the main round. If you can win in Győr and make a draw in Zvenigorod, as we did, anything is possible.