Denmark shaken: – Painful
- Manchester City – FC Copenhagen 5-0 (3-0)
MANCHESTER/OSLO (Dagbladet): Three hours before the match, the police stopped traffic in several streets in Manchester. Reason: The FC Copenhagen fans marched to the Etihad Stadium and were in a festive mood.
Then they were met by Erling Braut Haaland. And reality. The brutal reality.
FC Copenhagen was smashed in the Champions League and lost 5-0. But they must have one thing in mind: They won in the stands. Two or three Haaland goals are starting to become common every time, and the City fans have to be careful not to get blasé. The Norwegian spoils them!
– A monster. He cannot stop, writes the Danish newspaper BT
– Well, it hurts, reports rival Ekstra Bladet.
In the end, it ended with a Haaland goal and 5-0. Manager Pep Guardiola chose to bring the striker out at half-time. And FC Copenhagen should be happy about that.
It was ugly enough as it was.
– Best I’ve seen
City star Jack Grealish almost looked like he was in shock in a post-match interview.
The reason? Erling Braut Haaland.
– He’s probably the best I’ve played, says the words of praise from Grealish in the interview shown on TV 2.
He continued:
– He’s just unstoppable. He has an instinct where he is always in the right place at the right time. It’s something you can’t learn, I think, but something you’re born with.
Many Guardiola votes in:
– You can’t learn it. It’s instinct. This is not something a coach can teach you, says the Spaniard about Haaland’s two goals, and strengthens Grealish’s claim that “it’s just something you’re born with”.
As afterwards he brought forward the person Erling Braut Haaland.
– He is a handsome guy. We are lucky that he chose to come to us, for a player who can go anywhere, says Guardiola.
Naughty theory
FC Copenhagen coach Jacob Neestrup was honest that City were a much better team tonight.
– It was not something we could do. We just have to accept that we played against the best team in the world. They are several levels above us, says Neestrup at the press conference.
Danish party spoiled
The Danes did anything but good advertising for Scandinavian football. They were pushed completely backwards from the start and just accepted the punches. And it continued throughout the match.
First goal after seven minutes. Haaland had to stand alone and tap in a ball from João Cancelo. 2-0 after 33 minutes. Copenhagen keeper Kamil Grabara had to come back on a shot from Sergio Gómez and Haaland was ready for the return.
Seven minutes later, another Gomez shot went through two Copenhagen players and was registered as an own goal by Davit Khocholava. Behind him, Haaland stood ready to score a hat-trick, but it never happened.
The Norwegian was replaced by Cole Palmer at half-time. Pep Guardiola wants to rest him for the game against Southampton on Saturday. It is also important for Guardiola to involve all the players.
That does not prevent City from increasing to 4-0 on penalties by Riyad Mahrez. Julian Alvarez scored 5-0 and ensured complete humiliation on the Manchester night.
Champions League
Manchester C. | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | – | 1 | 9 |
Borussia Dortmund | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | – | 3 | 6 |
Seville | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 8 | 1 |
FC Copenhagen | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 8 | 1 |