Copenhagen vs Manchester City: Minnows face tough task

Danish minnows Copenhagen will surely face a tough examination as they prepare to host reigning Champions League holders Manchester City in the round of 16. Jacob Neestrup’s men shocked most observers as they managed to finish second in their quartet – ahead of City’s cross-town rivals Manchester United – to secure a coveted spot in the knockout rounds. Copenhagen’s group stage campaign was arguably a tale of two parts. The Lions started off with a 2-2 draw against Galatasaray, before suffering back to back losses to Manchester United and Bayern that left them with a huge mountain to climb with three matches to go.

Impressively, Neestrup’s side earned seven points in their last three group stage matches – including beating Manchester United 4-3 in a seven goal thriller and narrowly squeezing past Galatasaray – to join Bayern Munich as Group A’s two representatives in the round of 16. This will be the second time Copenhagen have ever qualified for this juncture, and interestingly, they will once again be facing an English opponent. 13 years ago, their maiden foray into the round of 16 ended after losing to Chelsea, and naturally, they will be looking for better luck this time around. However, another major concern is the fact that the Danish side have not played any real competitive football since December 12th.

In January, they did play in a bunch of friendlies and recently were involved in this year’s Atlantic Cup, a competition that featured other Scandinavian teams plus participants from the USA and China. Copenhagen ended up finishing fourth out of the 11 participants, and now they will be facing a Manchester City side who have really hit the ground running since the start of the new year.

Manchester City looking to end frustrating run at Copenhagen’s home ground

Pep Guardiola’s troops cruised through their Champions League group stages without really breaking a sweat as they picked up six wins from six, and come into this game on a ten game winning streak across all competitions. Not surprisingly, the Cityzens are the heavy favorites to progress from this two-legged tie as they aim to become the first English side to successfully win back to back Champions League titles. To date, City have never lost to a Danish club in a knockout match, with a record of three wins so far ahead of Tuesday’s match.

The English giants have also never lost to Copenhagen, and notably crushed them 5-0 in the group stages of last season’s Champions League. Interestingly, Guardiola’s side, while unbeaten against their upcoming opponents, have yet to win at Copenhagen’s home ground, with two draws from their last two visits. This time around, however, the odds look pretty good for them to come out on top – especially as the visitors have recovered key players such as Kevin de Bruyne and Erling Haaland heading into this contest. Haaland’s return couldn’t be even more timely, and the Norwegian marked his return to the fold with a brace to down Everton last weekend.

City’s last loss in any game was a surprise 1-0 reversal to Aston Villa back in December, and they are on a long-standing unbeaten run in the Champions League dating back to the 2021/22 semi-finals second leg, when they were beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid. As such, barring a shocking upset, it looks like Guardiola’s troops should be able pick up their first victory against Copenhagen on the road and make it a 21st European game sans defeat this Tuesday.

Key stats ahead of Copenhagen vs Manchester City

• Copenhagen have never beaten Manchester City in European competition (D2 L2)
• However, Manchester City have never won at Copenhagen’s home ground, with two draws from their last two visits
• The reigning UCL holders also have a record of W3 in their knockout round ties against Danish opponents
• Copenhagen are featuring in the UCL round of 16 for only the second time in history
• Overall, Copenhagen have lost just two of their last 12 home games in European competition (W5 D5)
• Meanwhile, City have not lost a European game since losing 3-1 to Real Madrid during the 2021/22 semi-finals second leg. They come into Tuesday’s game unbeaten in their last 20 European games, which is a new English record