An excellent start by FC København in the away game in Porto ... FCK looked good from start, producing the first attempt on target by Federico Santander, but unfortunately FCK then made that one defensive mistake, and from the least likely player to make such a silly passing mistake, Thomas Delaney, which Porto promptly took advantage of, as you would also expect at this level ... Porto then were happy to defend their lead while FCK were pushing for an equalizer, which then came early in the second half ... but surprisingly, this did not make the home team step up the pace and pressure ... instead, it looked like FCK would be more likely to take home the win, while Porto were not able to produce any real danger ... that is, until the the least experienced FCK player, Ján Greguš, made a stupid foul and got his second yellow card and was send off with 24 minutes left + added time ... Porto then finally managed to step up the pressure, while FCK were defending low, but by then the Porto players seemed tired and not really sharp enough to create much real danger, so FCK were able to withstand the pressure, not making mistakes that could lead to a home win for Porto, as the statistics also show, because Porto only managed to produce 2 attempts on target during 90+ minutes, so the 1-1 result seemed quite fair all considering ... so a very good start for FCK in the probably most difficult match of this group: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle...d=2000783/match=2019295/statistics/index.html Highlights : http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/video/highlights/videoid=2404195.html and ...
Group G: Leicester (ENG) ............... 2 < 4-0 > 6 FC København (DEN) .... 2 < 5-1 > 4 FC Porto (POR) ................ 2 < 1-2 > 1 Club Brugge (BEL) ........... 2 < 0-7 > 0 FCK beat Brugge 4-0 at home .... So Brugge now seem more or less finished in the group after only two games :
Preud'Homme have been out throwing in the towel for Brugge in Europe, stating that he'll focus the team on the domistic league.
Breaking News ! .... Because UEFA have broken the ’Memorandum of understanding’ agreement between UEFA and ECA (European Club Association) on one side and the EPFL ( European Professional Football Leagues), about not doing any changes to the UEFA Champions League without taking advise from EPFL, all Danish Superliga clubs have decided to break free from UEFA and not participate in any UEFA tournaments in the future, unless UEFA roll back the changes they have recently made for the Champions League ... this could happen at the EPFL meeting next week ... so perhaps a goodbye to Champions league and Europa League. http://www.bt.dk/superligaen/efter-...ing-nu-er-alle-superliga-klubber-klar-til-at-
Group G: Leicester (ENG) ............... 3 < 5-0 > 9 FC København (DEN) .... 3 < 5-2 > 4 FC Porto (POR) ................ 3 < 3-3 > 4 Club Brugge (BEL) ............ 3 < 1-9 > 0 FC Porto won 2-1 in Belgium through a last minute penalty, while Schmeichel saved the day and 3 points for Leicester with a brilliant last minute save against his fellow Danes from FCK ... but again it was a very good, tight and solid away performance by FCK, with the home team not being allowed much space or opportunities, while FCK produced just enough to bring home a result, though this time they narrowly lost by 0-1 ... but as the statistics below also show, then FCK actually were leading in passing accuracy, possesssion and attempts on target, while the home team Leicester on the other hand were that slight bit more efficient ... but FCK have now played their two most difficult away games and are still looking good in this group. Statistics and official Highlights : http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle...d=2000783/match=2019318/statistics/index.html
Group G: Leicester (ENG) ............... 4 < 5-0 > 10 FC Porto (POR) ................ 4 < 4-3 > 7 FC København (DEN) .... 4 < 5-2 > 5 Club Brugge (BEL) ............ 4 < 1-10> 0 FCK vs. Leicester, 0-0 FC Porto took a slim 1-0 win at home against Brugge, while Leicester escaped with a 0-0 result in Copenhagen ... Leicester parked the bus in the first 45 minutes, defending low and hoping for a lucky punch counterattack that never really came, while FCK were dominating possession but had trouble finding any holes in a tight and solid looking Leicester defense ... so it all became very tactical, with only 3 shots on target all match .... At the start of the second half Leicester stepped up the pace a bit, but to no real effect against a likewise tight looking FCK defense, so Leicester created next to nothing in attack, with Jeff Schlupp registering Leicester’s sole effort on target with a low, deflected drive that rolled slowly and harmlessly into the arms of FCK keeper Robin Olsen. Unfortunately FCK also seemed fairly toothless, though they produced few good attempts ... and exactly like in the first match between the two teams, Schmeichel produced an excellent last minute save to deny Andreas Cornelius .... so once again Schmeichel saved the day for Leicester against his fellow Danes ... FCK now face Porto in Copenhagen and then Brugge away ... should FCK mange to win both games they are sure to progress in CL and could even win the group, but only if Leicester lose their home game against Brugge and away to Porto, which seem highly unlikely ... Statistics and official Highlights : http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsle...d=2000783/match=2019342/statistics/index.html
Group G: Leicester (ENG) ............... 6 < 7-6 > 13 FC Porto (POR) ................ 6 < 9-3 > 10 FC København (DEN) .... 6 < 7-2 > 8 Club Brugge (BEL) ............ 6 < 2-14> 0 FCK vs. Leicester, 0-0 Unfortuately FCK did not progress in CL, but on the other hand will be among the seeded in the next round of the Europa League ... in the home match against Porto, both the FCK top strikers Cornelius and Santander were injured and out, with a 0-0 draw as the result... still with 0-0 at home and a 1-1 result away, FCK would have progressed on away goals, if FCK beat Brugge in their last game and Porto did not manage to beat Leicester ... FCK had no problem beating Brugge in Belgium, but unfortunately Leicester haed aleady won the group and were fielding their reserves against Porto, and lost 0-5 ... but as written, it's probably better for Denmark and FCK to progress to the Europa League were they are among the top seeded and so should be able to collect more points and progress even further, inspite the winter break ...
Perhaps I should add, that UEFA and the top clubs now officially have reopened the negotiations about the CL structure ... so the Danish League is not going to break free from UEFA ...
Group G: Leicester (ENG) ............... 6 < 7-6 > 13 FC Porto (POR) ................ 6 < 9-3 > 10 FC København (DEN) .... 6 < 7-2 > 9 Club Brugge (BEL) ............ 6 < 2-14> 0 Brugge vs. FCK , 0-2
Europa League, Round 2 (Last 32) draw : Ludogorets Razgrad (Bul) v FC København (Den) FCK were seeded and so drew the Bulgarian Champions Ludogorets that also progressed to this 2nd round of the Europa League through a 3rd place in their Champions league group, where they picked up 3 points through 1-1 and 0-0 against FC Basel and a 2-2 away draw against Paris Saint-Germain, but they lost 1-3 at home and also both games against Arsenal, getting trashed by 0-6 at the Emirates in London. Ludogorets look almost as strong in the Bulgarian League as FCK are in the Danish Superliga, though the Bulgarian league is ranked well below the Superliga and also below the Swedish and Norwegian League, mainly because last season was quite a disaster for all the Bulgarian teams in Europa and with Ludogorets picking up 0 points. This year Ludogorets has done much better and is the actual reason Bulgaria is in 22nd place in the same ranking, where Denmark so far is in 11th place, with FCK having picked up exactly as many ranking points as all the 4 Bulgarian teams put together. So at least on paper FCK are the favorites to progress, not least because Ludogorets winter break is almost as long as the Danish winter break, with Ludogorets having played only one league game more than FCK before the first leg in Bulgaria. FCK are on the other hand more experienced at playing these kind of winter break games in the Europa Cups. Otherwise it's worth noticing that FCK have looked far stronger defensively both in the Superliga and in Europe in compare with Ludogorets that only has the 3rd best defense in the Bulgarian league, having let in 15 goals in 17 games, 8 goals in the CL qualifiers and 15 goals in the CL group stage, while FCK only have let in 8 goals in 21 Superliga games so far, 2 goals in the CL qualifiers and only 2 goals in the CL group stage, 1 against Leicester and 1 against Porto ... Attacking wise, the two teams seem about equally strong with Ludogorets especially looking strong at fast-break counter attacking, while FCK are very strong at set pieces, which does not bode well for a not that solid looking Ludogorets defense.... considering that both teams are going to be a bit slow and rusty at the time of the 1st an 2nd leg, I favor FCK's more physical style of play, while I think that Ludogorets are going to have trouble finding space for their usual fast-break counter attacking.... so I believe FCK have the upper hand by 60--40 in their favor.
2016–17 UEFA Youth League (the UEFA U-19 Champions League) : Considering that only FCK is the only Nordic team that made it to the group stage and further, I'll add the UEFA Youth League to this thread, not least because the official Youth Europa Cup point into the future. Last season, Swedish Elfsborg made it to the play-off's, while FC Midtjylland made it to the round of 16 by beating Atletico Madrid : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015–16_UEFA_Youth_League_knockout_phase This season two Danish youth teams participate, FC Midtjylland, because they did well last season, and obviously FCK, because their Superliga team were in the Champions League group stage, so their youth team were sure to participate in the UEFA youth Champions League ... FCK finished 2nd in Youth League CL group G behind Porto, but ahead of Brugge, while the Leicester youth finished last : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016–17_UEFA_Youth_League#Group_G As for the Domestic Youth U-19 Champion path, Norwegian Rosenborg eliminated Swedish AIK Stockholm and then the Serbian youth Champions in the 2nd qualifying round, to reach the Play-off's ... just as FC Midtjylland beat the Belgium youth champions Anderlecht and Spanish youth champions Málaga to get this far. In the Play-off's, the Rosenborg youth champions are going face the Swiss youth champions FC Basel at home, the FCK youth face the Romanian youth champions FC Viitorul away in Romania, while the Danish youth Champions FC Midtjylland face Benfica from Portugal at home : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016–17_UEFA_Youth_League_knockout_phase#Play-offs
Due to the loss of key midfielder and team captain Thomas Delaney to Werder Bremen, FCK have signed the Serbian midfielder Uroš Matić, who is the younger brother of Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matić ... as mentioned earlier, they had already signed the Slovakian international Ján Greguš to cover the same position, But FCK always want two players of about equal quality for each position.
Europa League, Round 2 (Last 32), first leg : Ludogorets Razgrad (Bul) v FC København (Den), 1-2 FCK won the away leg in Bulgaria by 2-1 and so Ludogorets need both a win and to score 3 away goals in Copenhagen if they are to progress, which seem highly unlikely. Ludogorets has no less than 9 Brazilians in their squad and were only fielding 2 Bulgarians against FCK, so if i have to compare Ludo with the teams FCK were facing in the CL group stage, it's a team that remind of Porto regarding the style of play, possession wise, but is more like Brugge defensively, So they like to have possession of the ball, but are not very efficient or any good defensively ... so quality wise, they are far from as good as Porto, but still slightly better than Brugge. The match itself was a bit of a Déjà vu from the Porto and Brugge games. As in the games against Brugge, FCK managed to force Ludo to make an owngoal after a corner kick early on, due to Ludo's defensive weak spot, Anicet Abel from Madagascar, while possession wise the Ludo Brazilians were on top like Porto, but getting nowhere against a strong looking FCK defense. Player of the match was FCK winger Yousef Toutouh, who scored the 2-0 goal that secured the win, cleverly assisted by a well playing Rasmus Falk, but who also came close to a second goal by an attempt striking the Ludo woodwork. As you know, then FCK have sold their team captain and key central midfielder Thomas Delaney to Werder Bremen, but have replaced him with the Serbian midfielder Uroš Matić, who is the younger brother of Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matić, and he was quite excellent, attacking quite agressively and cleverly passing the ball, just as Delaney would have done. unfotunately for FCK their Slovakian central midfielder Ján Greguš got a second yellow card and was send off, just as in the game against Porto, while the key FCK defensive midfielder William kvist recieved a yellow card and is also out for the return leg in Copenhagen. and obviously that is a bit of a worry. but all considering, FCK should still progress to the next round, inspite of the long Superliga winter break. Highlights :