Jacobsen relishing battle to reach last 16

Copenhagen defender Lars Jacobsen is relishing the prospect of playing for a place in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages.

Daniel Braaten’s sixth-minute goal handed the Danish champions a 1-0 home win over Galatasaray in Group B on Tuesday, a result that leaves Copenhagen level on four points with the Turkish outfit, with both teams a point better off than bottom club Juventus.

With group leaders Real Madrid looking an assured bet to reach the last 16 with 10 points, it looks as though the battle for the runners-up spot will be a three-way fight between the remaining sides.

Jacobsen praised the performance of his team-mates against Gala as Copenhagen maintained their record of never having lost at home in the group stages of the competition.

“This is a fantastic feeling,” he said.

“I am proud of the lads. We have improved a lot after a poor start to the season and now we can really look forward to the last two matches in the group.

“We played extremely well for the first 25 minutes and we probably should have sealed the result by then.

“After that they put us under heavy pressure and this continued in the second half.”