Key events
Half-time entertainment. City also going great guns in the Women’s FA Cup! Faye Carruthers and Suzanne Wrack pore over a controversial weekend of action.
HALF TIME: Copenhagen 1-2 Manchester City
City more than deserve their lead on the balance of play. Indeed they should be further in front. They’ve played some outstanding football. And yet the actual story has unfolded in the most unpredictable way. They don’t look particularly happy as they leave the pitch, no doubt thinking they should have notched up more goals, but while a lead’s a lead, high standards are high standards.
GOAL! Copenhagen 1-2 Manchester City (Silva 45+1)
De Bruyne challenges Mattsson at the right-hand corner of the Copenhagen box. He’s attempting to play the ball across the face of the box, but it springs down the inside-right channel for Silva, who dinks elegantly across Grabara and into the bottom left. Gorgeous finish, but a huge lucky break for the assist!
45 min: De Bruyne’s speculative shot is blocked by McKenna, whose previous competitive appearance was for Forest during extra time in the FA Cup at Blackpool.
43 min: Under no pressure whatsoever, Diks and Mattsson mess up a simple throw-in routine. A timely reminder that Copenhagen haven’t played a competitive game for two months.
41 min: … and so despite it all, Copenhagen could conceivably be leading this match. The great Jimmy Greaves had a phrase for this.
39 min: Suddenly the wind is behind Copenhagen, and Jelert sprays a diagonal ball towards Mattsson, who has been ignored by Foden out on the left flank. Mattsson brings the ball down, enters the box, leans back and hoicks over. He should have done much better.
38 min: Foden and Stones combine smoothly down the right … until the latter gets too casual and runs the ball out for a goal kick.
37 min: Parken had fallen a little bit quiet just before the goal. Not now. The place bouncing just as it was before kick-off. Probably more so, given they’ve just seen their side notch a screamer against the reigning champions.
35 min: Tell you what, that goal is a complete affront to the concept of momentum. But it’s a huge mistake by Ederson, and it was snapped up in glorious fashion by Mattsson.
GOAL! Copenhagen 1-1 Manchester City (Mattsson 34)
City create yet another scoring opportunity … but this time for Copenhagen. Ederson plays a dismal pass out towards Ake. Or more accurately, straight to Elyounoussi. His shot is blocked, but only deflects to Mattsson to his left. Mattsson opens his body and power-curls a 25-yard shot into the top right! The hosts level! Eh?!
33 min: A throw for Copenhagen down the left, deep in City territory. Walker flings the ball away and is fortunate not to go into the book.
32 min: A rare sortie into City territory for Copenhagen, as Diks and Claesson combine down the left, the latter reaching the byline. But neither shot nor cross can be crafted, and City clear.
30 min: City are now rampant again. Doku and Silva take turns to shoot from the middle of a crowded box. Both are blocked. Copenhagen can only half clear, and this time Silva tries to solve the crowded-box problem by elegantly floating a chip over everybody, towards the top-right corner. Grabara claims the ball just in time.
29 min: City, having briefly lost their momentum in the wake of Grealish’s departure, rediscover their rhythm. Pass, ping, pass, probe, pass. Suddenly they shift up three gears at once, Doku crossing from the left, Haaland whistling a fierce overhead kick high and wide. Had that gone in, the net was heading off towards Sweden.
27 min: Ah, there’s some better news for City. Foden took a whack but is fine to continue.
26 min: Foden is down now. City’s early mood is in danger of curdling here.
24 min: Diks goes down in the City box, having gone shoulder to shoulder with Rodri. He wants a penalty but come along. Copenhagen go on to earn their first corner of the night, but do nothing with it.
23 min: Doku is immediately into the action. He makes good down the left and feeds Silva, who reaches the byline and aims a cutback towards Haaland. Grabara sticks out an arm and sends the ball flying towards his own net. Nope! It’s Vavro who heads it backwards instead! It pings off the crossbar and away. Nearly an absurd own goal.
(That last bit still stands.)
22 min: City will be hoping that’s a knock from the Goncalves clip … but there didn’t seem to be a lot in it. Grealish immediately grabbed at his groin.
21 min: Grealish can’t continue. The ball is rolled towards him, but he can’t chase it. He lets it go, then walks off glumly. Doku comes on in his place.
20 min: Perhaps it was a knock rather than a muscle problem, because Grealish trots back on. Doku is still preparing to come on, though.
19 min: Grealish is able to walk off, and in fact he wants to continue. And yet he doesn’t look happy, a pair of sad eyes telling their own story. As he waits on the touchline, sighing, Doku starts to warm up.
17 min: City have been purring, but there’s bad news here as Grealish goes down. He’s clipped by Goncalves and then pulls up, immediately looking towards his bench with a pained look on his face. He knows he’s tweaked something. As he hits the deck, he grabs his groin.
15 min: Grealish dribbles purposefully down the left again. He’s skittled unfairly, but the referee waves play on; however City don’t make anything of the supposed advantage. Grealish has started very brightly.
13 min: De Bruyne curls a cross in from the left. An inch or two lower, and Haaland was burying a header from eight yards. But it flies over the striker’s head. Copenhagen could easily be four down already. It’s going to be a long evening for the Danish champions.
12 min: Just a little over ten minutes gone, and yet it’s legitimate to say that had been coming. How well City have started. The double-treble bid is picking up momentum nicely.
GOAL! Copenhagen 0-1 Manchester City (De Bruyne 11)
Dias switches it left to right. Foden zips in from the flank and plays a cute ball down the inside-right channel and into the box. De Bruyne hares after it and steers a first-time shot across Grabara and into the bottom left. So precise. So good.
10 min: “It strikes me that Copenhagen have nothing to lose tonight,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “They should have a right go at City, as Newcastle, Wolves and Aston Villa have all done this season to good effect (winning at home). Noone expects them to progress, so at least for the home leg, live Danishly.” Of course, to do that, they need the ball first. And …
9 min: De Bruyne slaps an uncharacteristically witless free kick into the wall. Copenhagen hanging on a bit here.
8 min: City are utterly dominant. A corner is won down the left, and half cleared. The visitors come again down the same flank, Grealish dinking the ball over Claesson only to be cynically checked just outside the box. A free kick in a very dangerous position coming up.
6 min: Mattsson clips Stones late, 30 yards out. Stones springs up and briefly considers a square go. He wisely thinks twice and City take the free kick quickly. The ball’s slipped down the inside-right channel for Silva, who crosses to the far stick. Dias plants a downward header that’s brilliantly parried on the line by Grabara. The ball cannons off the nearly Ake and out for a goal kick. So close! Again!
5 min: City have established their superiority in double-quick time. They’re stroking it around imperiously. Copenhagen forced to sit back and slip into Hold Your Shape mode. No way out.
3 min: City should be leading. Ake and Grealish exchange passes down the left. Ake dinks a cross in. De Bruyne, free on the edge of the six-yard box, heads weakly wide right. What a chance that was! What a cross, also. If that had fallen to Haaland, huh.
2 min: City take their first touches of the ball and are bombarded with pantomime whistles. A fine old-school European night already.
1 min: Copenhagen are on the front foot immediately, Claesson attempting a Mark Hughes style bicycle kick on the edge of the City D. Rodri, last year’s final hero, bravely blocks and wins a free kick in the process.
Copenhagen get the ball rolling! Parken pumped and jumping. The atmosphere did for Manchester United recently; will it shake City?
The teams are out! Copenhagen in white with blue trim, City in third-choice [squints] “electric-spark-patterned tops with neon-pink takes on the club crest and sponsor logos” [adjusts pince-nez] “when you watch City play, you can feel the electricity, and now, you can see it too.” We’ll be off in a couple of shakes.
Pep Guardiola talks to TNT. “It is always dangerous … Champions League is special … especially away, especially the first game in the last 16 … we have been two months disconnected [from the competition] so hopefully we can connect soon and take a good result for the second leg … they will have full energy in the tank to play games … momentum is momentum but you start from zero and have to prove it … the Premier League we have 45 points to play … we cannot draw a match because the opponents are so strong … always you can slip a little bit in the Champions League … one bad game, you can be out … we know it from the past … we will try to impose our game and do a good game … [the intense atmosphere already bubbling in Parken] is nice … nice!”
Erling Haaland up front, Theydon Bois on guitar, Clam on bass.
Pre-match entertainment. Pop your feet up, pour yourself a Mikkeller (this one semi-inspired by Alex Ferguson, maybe) and enjoy.
Copenhagen coach Jacob Neestrup speaks to TNT. “I am relaxed because it’s a big game not just for Copenhagen but for Danish and Scandinavian football … if you’re not proud and if you can’t relax for a game like this … we have a lot of games where the pressure is huge, when we are expected to win all of the games … one of the reasons we have been doing so well in the Champions League is that it is a kind of free space for us … where the pressure is not as huge … everybody is excited … we are hungry … obviously it is not perfect to go direct from the training pitch to play the best team in the world … it would have been a little bit better if we were in the loop, but things are as they are … it is not going to be an alibi for us not to perform today … the 35,000 fans will do everything they can to carry us forward.”
Manchester City make four changes to the starting XI named for the 2-0 defeat of Everton on Saturday afternoon. Kevin De Bruyne, Jack Grealish, Bernardo Silva and Kyle Walker come in for Julián Álvarez, Matheus Nunes, Jérémy Doku and Manuel Akanji, all of whom drop to the bench.
København haven’t played since they beat Galatasaray 1-0 in their final group game, two months and one day ago. They’ve made two changes to their starting XI from that game. Lukas Lerager, who scored the winner against the Cimbom only to get himself sent off during the last knockings, is suspended, while Peter Ankersen drops to the bench. They’re replaced by Magnus Mattsson and, making his club debut after joining on loan from Nottingham Forest, Scott McKenna.
The teams
Copenhagen: Grabara, McKenna, Vavro, Diks, Jelert, Mattsson, Jensen, Goncalves, Elyounoussi, Claesson, Achouri.
Subs: Sorensen, Larsson, Cornelius, Oskarsson, Ankersen, Meling, Runarsson, Clem, Oscar Hojlund, Bardghji, Froholdt, Gadeberg-Burr.
Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodri, Foden, Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, Grealish, Haaland.
Subs: Doku, Ortega, Alvarez, Akanji, Matheus Luiz, Carson, Bobb, Wright, Susoho, Lewis.
Referee: Jose Maria Sanchez (Spain).
Tonight’s squad in 🇩🇰
XI | Ederson, Walker (C), Stones, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Foden, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Doku, Alvarez, Akanji, Nunes, Bobb, Wright, Susoho, Lewis#ManCity | #UCL pic.twitter.com/jE78xUkmHT
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 13, 2024
Preamble
Manchester City are the quintuple-winning European and world champions. Copenhagen are playing in the knockout stage of the Champions League for only the second time. Manchester City have won all of their last ten games. Copenhagen haven’t played in two months because of Denmark’s winter break. Manchester City beat Copenhagen 5-0 last season. Copenhagen have never beaten Manchester City.
But! In football, you never know. Copenhagen may have never beaten City, but they’ve never lost at home to them either, holding the champions-elect 0-0 last time round, and drawing 2-2 in a 2009 Europa League fixture. In addition, they won the last match against English opposition at the Parken Stadium, that absurd 4-3 comeback victory over Manchester United during this season’s groups. So while City are the hottest of favourites tonight – and for the overall tie, and for the overall competition – you never know. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT, 9pm in Copenhagen. It’s on!
