Manchester City defeated Copenhagen 3-1 and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League – – 2024-03-07 19:26:20

With seven changes compared to the team that beat Manchester United at the weekend, Manchester City solved the procedure against Copenhagen (3-1) and reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the seventh consecutive season.

Pep Guardiola’s team has not been left out of this round since Monaco eliminated them in 2017, in their first season at the Etihad Stadium. Since then, the ‘Sky Blues’ have not failed, and this Wednesday against Copenhagen was an easy task after the 3-1 in the first leg.

Aware of the tight schedule ahead of them, with a match against Liverpool on Sunday, and subsequent duels against Newcastle United in the FA Cup, and Arsenal and Aston Villa in the Premier, in addition to a national team break in between, the players City wanted to end the duel as soon as possible and reduce gears, and they achieved it before the 10th minute.

With Kevin de Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker, Phil Foden, John Stones, Nathan Aké and Bernardo Silva all rested, the substitutes did not disappoint. Julián Álvarez, who may also start on Sunday, participated in the first two goals, first placing the cross that Manuel Akanji volleyed for 1-0 and then with a shot that Grabara, the Danes’ goalkeeper, was unable to catch.

It was a shot without excessive force or placement, but the Polish goalkeeper swallowed it, in one of the great songs of the round of 16.

Despite the gross error, the truth is that by then Copenhagen were already 4-1 down in the tie and had a more than impossible time against the current champion.

The 2-0 score relaxed many of Guardiola’s men, who also played with a defensive line at the height of the midfield that Copenhagen punished on the counterattack.

Mohamed Elyonoussi, an old acquaintance of British football, with a past in Southampton and Glasgow Celtic, led the counterattack from his field, threw a one-two with Orri Oskarsson, who returned the ball with a backheel, and reduced the distance.

Any possible doubts and uncertainties that that goal could raise heading into the second half were cleared up by Erling Haaland on the brink of half-time. The Norwegian collected a long pass from Rodrigo Hernández and made space for two defenders until he took a shot at the near post that was very reminiscent of the ones Kylian Mbappé is used to.

With that goal, Haaland equals Sergio Agüero’s 41 goals in the competition, but with 43 fewer games than the Argentine. The Norwegian also equals Harry Kane and Mbappé in this year’s Golden Boot with six goals.

The match and the tie were already over, probably even before the match began in Manchester, but Neerstrup’s men wanted to leave with their heads held high and if it had not been for a good intervention by Ederson on a Magnus Mattsson shot, they could have dreamed of the tie.

City joins Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain in the quarterfinals and will continue its adventure of being the second team in history to defend this title, after Real Madrid.