Sterling fightback feeds AaB hopes
Thursday, November 6, 2008
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Aalborg BK may have accepted that their UEFA Champions League hopeshave all but gone, but after holding Villarreal CF to a 2-2 draw on Wednesday they are confident they can extend their European campaign into the spring.
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Free-kick equaliser
Anders Due's superb free-kick nine minutes from time gave the Danish side a 2-2 draw in Group E, and if they defeat visitors Celtic FC on 25 November they would be guaranteed a UEFA Cup Round of 32 berth at the very least. Having held the Scottish champions to a goalless draw in Glasgow and shown genuine hunger to twice draw level against Villarreal, that remains a distinct possibility, according to midfielder Thomas Enevoldsen.
AaB belief
"If we play against Celtic like we did against Villarreal then I think we will beat them," Enevoldsen said. "That would give us third place in the table and a spot in the UEFA Cup, which would be great for Danish football." Jeppe Curth, who scored AaB's first equaliser in the 54th minute, added: "We have great confidence and we know what we need to do against Celtic to win. There is also still the chance of qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League but to do that we will have to beat Manchester United [FC], one of the best teams in the world, so that will be tough. But we definitely believe we can qualify for the UEFA Cup now."
