Man City make a Scandinavian sojourn to meet Copenhagen
The defence of Manchester City‘s Champions League crown resumes on Tuesday evening, as the Citizens take a Scandinavian sojourn to meet Copenhagen in Tuesday’s last-16 first leg.
Pep Guardiola‘s men brushed aside the competition in Group G to finish top of the section, while their hosts sneaked into second place in Group A behind Bayern Munich.
Capitalising on Manchester United’s prolonged misfortune, Danish upstarts Copenhagen only gleaned one point from their opening three Champions League affairs in 2023-24, but an unforeseen three-match unbeaten run from November to December earned Jacob Neestrup‘s men a ticket to the last 16.
The Man City faithful may have shared a joke among one another when witnessing their bitter rivals go down 4-3 to Copenhagen during the group phase, but there will be no time for niceties on Tuesday evening, as the reigning Champions League holders bid to slay another foe during their standard second-season surge.
While Copenhagen have a handful of concerns to manage, Man City travel to the Danish capital without a single injured or suspended player to rue the absence of, although Ruben Dias was booked twice in the group stage and will therefore miss the second leg if he is cautioned here.
Already trying and failing twice to get the better of Copenhagen on their own territory, the third time should be the charm for a fully-fit Man City on Tuesday, especially with the hosts losing such an influential figure in Lerager.
The Parken atmosphere is an intimidating one for any visiting team to emerge to, but with Guardiola’s men enjoying their customary winter-to-spring surge, a first-leg advantage should be theirs to take back to the Etihad.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Real Madrid to protect perfect record as they travel to Leipzig
Still boasting an unblemished record in the 2023-24 Champions League, 14-time winners Real Madrid begin their knockout journey on Tuesday, as RB Leipzig welcome them to Germany for the first leg of their last-16 tie.
Los Blancos blew the competition out of the water to place first in Group C, while Marco Rose‘s team finished second in Group G behind reigning champions Manchester City.
Group G of the 2023-24 Champions League certainly followed the pre-tournament script, as while Man City sailed into the sunset with a perfect record of 18 points from six fixtures, RB Leipzig – as expected – fended off Young Boys and Red Star Belgrade to take the runners-up position.
While Leipzig have also registered at the correct end of the field in their last 10 home Champions League contests, such defensive frailties makes for unpleasant reading ahead of the visit of a Real Madrid side who made light work of their closest challengers for the La Liga crown on Saturday.
Real Madrid can still complete a treble of sorts in the coming months, and Ancelotti’s men were one of only two teams – the other being holders Man City – to navigate the Champions League group stage without dropping a single point.
Real Madrid have conceded multiple goals in five of their last seven Champions League matches away from the Bernabeu, shipping two on Napoli and Union Berlin’s turf during their Group C travails.
Real Madrid are also sweating over the fitness of one of their midfielders for Tuesday’s first leg, although the visitors’ concern is a much more high-profile one, as Bellingham was forced to leave the field against Girona with a sprained ankle just moments after scoring his side’s third goal.
With a huge question mark still hanging over the head of the red-hot Bellingham, it would take a plucky soul to confidently call the outcome of Tuesday’s first leg, although Los Blancos have still produced the attacking goods during his infrequent absences this season.
Leipzig’s tendency to ship goals at home in the Champions League – coupled with their underwhelming form since returning from the winter break – makes it difficult to envisage the German side repeating last season’s Red Bull Arena success over Los Blancos, who have our vote to take a slender lead back to Madrid for the second leg.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
FIXTURES
FC Copenhagen 20:00 Manchester City
Who said what at the Africa Cup of Nations
Who said what during the Africa Cup of Nations which concluded Sunday with hosts Ivory Coast defeating Nigeria in the final in Abidjan:
“We dreamed of this moment so many times. We hoped to get to this point and once again the match wasn’t an easy one. The joyous scenes we see now, what’s happening in the country, they deserve it too. I really hope it does a lot of people good.” – Ivory Coast’s Sebastien Haller after scoring the decisive late goal in the 2-1 final defeat of Nigeria.
“God has given us a second chance, so now we have an obligation to give our everything.” –Caretaker coach Emerse Fae after hosts Ivory Coast squeezed into the knockout stage.
“When you have a scenario like that (losing a group match 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea), it is a nightmare and there is not much you can say or do.” – Ivory Coast coach Jean-Louis Gasset speaking before his mid-tournament sacking.
“When I saw Gabaski (Egypt goalkeeper Mohamed Abou Gabal) preparing to shoot, we were looking at each others eyes and I could see he was a bit nervous.” – Democratic Republic of Congo goalkeeper Lionel Mpasi describing build-up to penalty which Gabaski missed, leading to the elimination of Egypt
“This is not an Afcon of surprises. It is an Afcon of hard work.” – DR Congo coach Sebastien Desabre hails the work ethic of his squad
“They do everything for me, for the Super Eagles, for the 220 million people. They fight, they fight, they fight.” – Jose Peseiro, coach of runners-up Nigeria
“My choice is to play for my country. If the club are not happy, I will find another one.” – Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly on club-versus-country issue
“This Afcon is a bit crazy. We should have done better. You have to be able to ‘kill’ matches when the opportunity arises.” – Morocco captain Romain Saiss
“It (Afcon) is totally different from Europe because of how intense the tournament is. Even the weakest teams can win because they are so motivated.” – South Africa coach Hugo Broos
“We need spectators to enjoy watching African football. It has got to be appealing, attractive and exciting because then it has commercial value.” – CAF president Patrice Motsepe
