Captain Chelsea Reece James says his side took a “step in the right direction” after hitting Copenhagen in the Europa Conference League.
Blues traveled to a 2-0 lead away from home, thanks to the goals of their ruler and Enzo Fernandez in the second half.
But there was a little frustration in full time with the hosts fighting in the game.
It means that they will be directed to Stamford Bridge in the hope of pulling a miracle, but James sees the result as a positive overall.
Speaking after the game, he said: “It’s a big step in the right direction. Coming here is a difficult place to go and the atmosphere was amazing.
“They created well and it is always frustrating to admit so late in the game. Our goal was to keep a clean leaf and we couldn’t do that, but we got the win.
“It’s always good to score and help the team and fortunately we got the win. We know it’s another huge game (next week), we have to win and want to move on and win this competition.”
“We want to move on and win this contest” 🏆
Reece James is talking @Nataliequirk After Chelsea’s 2-1 major victory in Denmark 🇩🇰
📺 @tntsports & @DiscoveryPlusuk pic.twitter.com/zoi6l8nth6
– Football at TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 6 2025
Lead coach Enzo Maresca, on the other hand, was happy with the result and especially the performance of James, implying that he could change a position in the future.
He added: “I see Reece as a medium. From the first day. I sent him a clip when he was on vacation for how he can be average. He has played in full, central defender, so the main goal for us is to keep him appropriate.
“We know how important it is to us. It’s our captain, a fantastic player. We need to fit, so it’s our duty, our goal, because it will definitely help us. He can play in many places because good players can play in many places.
“It was a small part of a misleading target. We can avoid it. It’s football, it can happen. Now they’ve finished 90 minutes and now we have 90 minutes against them.
“The main game for us is Sunday’s home game and we need our fans for 100 minutes behind the team and pressing the team.
“If we can win against Leicester on Sunday. We can take another step to finish in the Champions League, (if) four or top five, I don’t know.”
