Although the game no longer had any sporting value, Borussia Dortmund wanted to deliver a convincing performance at FC Copenhagen. Instead, a rather tough game followed, including a lucky draw. Many a Dortmunder was pretty pissed off: the voices about the game.

BVB had already qualified for the round of 16 and Copenhagen had already been eliminated. The duel between the two teams on Wednesday evening no longer had any sporting value. And yet both teams wanted to prove their worth once again – and if possible take the lavish prize money with them.

Ultimately, neither the Danish hosts nor the black and yellow guests succeeded. The 1-1 draw was even more fortunate for the Bundesliga club than it was for Copenhagen.

“We have to check that off as soon as possible and keep going. That wasn’t a good game from us today. We never had the intensity, we just jogged around and were never toxic enough,” Emre Can made clear after the final whistle at DAZN. The midfielder was the one who spoke most clearly of his teammates’ mixed performance.

Even if it wasn’t about anything sporty, “you’re playing the Champions League here,” Can continues. He emphasized: “It doesn’t matter if it’s about progress. It’s about a lot of money. Everyone wants to show themselves and prove themselves, we definitely didn’t do that today. We had good actions from time to time, but it wasn’t good enough.”

Edin Terzic approached the performance a little more analytically: “In the first half we weren’t able to create many chances to score and lost a lot of balls. We weren’t in the game then. That gave the opponent good chances again and again.” In the first half, the offensive “could have been done much better,” the coach noted.

However, he also focused on the current strain, with which he defended his players: “It was the fifth English week, so you have to forgive one or the other.”

October, which is now behind Borussia, to which Terzic refers, actually had many games on the schedule. However, BVB suffered only two defeats in the whole month (against Cologne and Union), while four competitive games were won. The 1-1 draw against Copenhagen also marked the fourth draw.

Nevertheless, the players were more self-critical and clearer than Terzic. Nico Schlotterbeck, for example, hit the can notch and attested his team “not a good game”. Instead, they had “a bit of luck”.

And Kobel, as the defender explained: “Gregor is playing well again today and holding very well. We lacked cleanliness in the passing game. Then it’s not easy here in front of 40,000 either.”

Basically, however, a positive conclusion can be drawn for the group phase, said Schlotterbeck: “We’re through. If there’s nothing more at stake on the last day of the game, then you played a decent group phase. We’re looking forward to our opponents in the round of 16.” Terzic also summed up a “very satisfactory group phase”, in which they qualified early for the knockout phase.

This article was originally published on 90min.com/DE as “Wasn’t good enough”: BVB thoughts on the lucky draw against Copenhagen.