Can anyone stop Manchester City in the Champions League?
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – It is possible to have good moments against us Manchester City. They can even be beaten for over 90 minutes Wolves, arsenalAnd Aston Villa have already proven this season. But beating Pep Guardiola's side in two games – one of them at the Etihad Stadium, where they haven't lost in more than a year – is something else.
City only lost one two-legged friend UEFA Champions League It was a knockout draw in almost five years, and even that required something like a miracle real Madrid when they scored two goals in stoppage time at the Bernabeu in 2022. The question arises: Who can prevent the reigning European champions from reaching a third Champions League final within four years?
FC Copenhagen had their moments in Tuesday's round of 16 first leg in Parken, but were outplayed and beaten for most of the game, as most expected. 3-1. The result probably should have been even more comfortable.
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Despite the beating Manchester United and drawing with Bayern Munich In the group stage, the Danish champions, playing their first competitive game in two months, were barely able to defeat their guests and faced an almost impossible task at the Etihad in three weeks. Real Madrid, with Jew Bellinghamand Bavaria, with Harry Kanewould fancy their chances of a head-to-head clash if subsequent draws bring games against City, but the current defending champions are favorites to win the competition again and for good reason.
“I know how difficult it is,” Guardiola said afterwards. “People think it’s easy, but ask United and Bayern. It's a really tough opponent. We have developed perfect concepts today. My job is to warn players about their abilities.”
“We behaved with character, personality and patience. Everyone was at the top level. It's not crucial, but it's a good result. Hopefully we can reach the quarter-finals.”
FC Copenhagen tried everything to throw City off track. On a freezing evening in Denmark, home fans streamed into the stadium more than an hour before kick-off, making as much noise as they could Jack Grealish, Phil Foden And John Stones were all on the receiving end of some tough early challenges.
“We knew [they would be physical,” said Guardiola, who saw Grealish and Bernardo Silva limp off with injuries. “We talked about it, they are so aggressive.” Still, City were able to get into their rhythm quickly.
Kevin De Bruyne, playing in his first Champions League game since last season’s final after five months out with injury, could have scored with a header after just three minutes. He eventually scored after 10 minutes, by which time Nathan Aké had poked a tap-in over the bar.
For the first 30 minutes, City had 80% possession and Copenhagen were only allowed back into the game after a horrible wayward pass from Ederson ended up with Magnus Mattsson, making his debut following a move from NEC, scoring from the edge of the penalty area to briefly make it 1-1. Bernardo put City back in front just before half-time and Foden added a third in stoppage time but the only surprise was that the result wasn’t more emphatic after Copenhagen conceded 27 shots and 13 on target. They have goalkeeper Kamil Grabara to thank for making sure the tie isn’t over already.
The one hope for Copenhagen is that the return game in Manchester on March 6 is sandwiched between Premier League fixtures against Manchester United and Liverpool and it’s possible Guardiola might rotate his squad. The hope for the likes of Real Madrid and Bayern is that City continue to show small spells of vulnerability, having kept just 11 clean sheets in their past 37 games in all competitions, but with players like De Bruyne — who scored one and made two against Copenhagen — they will always score. With three goals against Copenhagen, they became the first team in Champions League history to score at least three goals in seven consecutive games.
“We played really good,” Guardiola said. “The right tempo we should play. We managed the game. The first game in the last 16 is always so dangerous but the players behaved and performed really good.
“We’ll prepare for the [second game] We know we're not done yet. It's one game at a time.
“It was really, really good. I am so proud. It was important. Today was perfect.”
City have not been eliminated since losing to the Champions League in the round of 16 Monaco in 2017 and all signs point to that run being extended once Copenhagen pays a visit to the Etihad. However, Guardiola has much higher goals and given their record in knockout games, one wouldn't bet against another final appearance at Wembley in June.
The question for the rest of Europe is: who can stop them?
