Hjulmand hails "world-class" Grimaldo after another free-kick beauty

PARKEN, COPENHAGEN (Bulinews): Just when Bayer Leverkusen needed him most, Alejandro Grimaldo delivered a trademark free-kick stunner in Thursday’s 2-2 Champions League draw with FC Copenhagen.

Speaking after the game, Bayer 04 coach Kasper Hjulmand was blown away by the quality of the left-back, who didn’t just score one but two direct free-kick goals in Friday’s 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt.

“It's just world-class. Absolutely crazy," Hjulmand said at his post-match press conference when asked about Grimaldo's free-kick goal in Copenhagen.

"He was frustrated when he missed the first one (a free-kick in the first half, editor's note). He just sees the goal. His free-kick ability is unbelievable. Pure, sheer world-class.”

Reflecting on what he described as a “hectic” game, Hjulmand said he was happy to take a point and acknowledged that there is still plenty of work ahead for his Leverkusen side, two games into his tenure.

“At the end of the day, I think we should be satisfied with the point and move on,” the Danish coach said.

“We are still learning what we can do with this group of new players. It's a new team. Today, we showed some character again. Being behind twice here in Parken is difficult. So we take the point and move on. We have a lot of work to do.”