(Football news) While their hosts managed to sneak into second place in Group A behind Bayern Munich, Pep Guardiola’s team easily defeated the opposition in Group G to win the division.
Taking advantage of Manchester United’s extended bad luck, Danish upstarts Copenhagen only managed one point from their first three Champions League matches in 2023–24. However, an unexpected three-match winning streak from November to December secured a spot in the round of sixteen for Jacob Neestrup’s team.
Slender successes over Manchester United and Galatasaray came either side of a creditable goalless draw with group winners Bayern, and the German champions’ matchday six beating of the Red Devils ensured at least a place in the Europa League for Copenhagen, who lengthened their top-tier European journey as Lukas Lerager struck the only goal against Galatasaray.
Only once before have the Nordic outfit competed in the knockout stages of the Champions League, coincidentally losing to English opposition in the form of Chelsea in the 2010-11 last 16, suffering a 2-0 home loss before clinging on for a creditable away draw at Stamford Bridge.
Thirteen years later, Copenhagen’s second bite at the knockout cherry arrives at a time where inconsistency has plagued them domestically, as they entered the Superliga winter break on the back of a three-match winless run, dropping to third in the table on account of back-to-back losses to Viborg and AGF.
The mid-season Atlantic Cup then took centre stage for Copenhagen earlier this month – a tournament comprising teams from various nations with no league commitments at the start of February – but Neestrup’s men had to settle for fourth place in the competition, taking six points from an available nine.
There won’t be time for polite conversation on Tuesday night as the defending Champions League champions look to defeat yet another opponent during their customary second-season rampage. Man City supporters may have laughed among themselves when watching their fierce rivals lose 4-3 to Copenhagen during the group stage.
In the group stages of Europe’s top competition, RB Leipzig, Young Boys, and Red Star Belgrade would be the teams trying to stop the Guardiola machine. However, their efforts would be in vain, as the Manchester giants easily advanced to the round of 16 with a maximum total of 18 points.
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