Brian Priske had an ‘incredible’ evening with Feyenoord at Manchester City in the Champions League. The Danish trainer saw his team make a bizarre comeback against the English superpower and can only compliment his team. Priske also explained the return of Santiago Gimenez in detail.
‘Unbelievable. We were 3-0 down in an away game. It was a top performance in terms of mentality and character. We also had good moments of individual quality as a team, a really big compliment for us,” said an exuberant Priske in conversation with Ziggo Sport.
‘You are 3-0 behind and then you think: This is going to be hard, it’s going to be a long evening. We didn’t start well, we were too passive and couldn’t reach the players we wanted to reach. Then we had a good phase in the first half, but they then get a penalty. In the second half it quickly becomes 2-0 and 3-0, but then the boys show that they are here to compete.’
Feyenoord’s struggle emerged from the moment Gimenez made his return. Credit where credit is due, Priske outlined. “I’m very happy for him, I’ve said it before, but Santi worked very hard when he was injured. He wanted to come back. This was his dream: to play against Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium. This is what he worked for. We debated whether this was the right time, but he said, “I’m ready and I’m doing my best.” Then you see that he has qualities and lives up to them.’
According to Priske, there are reasons why Feyenoord lost what was on paper an easier match against Red Bull Salzburg in De Kuip. ‘All matches are a challenge. They are all different. Different opponents, different qualities. Sometimes the schedule was a bit against us and the injuries didn’t help either. That had an impact against Salzburg, and you can look back on that now jammerbut the points you get at Benfica and here, no one would have expected that. We know what we can do and we are going to enjoy it now. Tomorrow is a new day and a look at the next match.’ Feyenoord will play the next match against Fortuna Sittard on Saturday at 8 p.m.
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