Luis Núñez-Villavearán
Updated Wednesday, March 6, 2024-22:59
Manchester
City
-
Copenhagen
was the match that anyone would expect from a Manchester City - Copenhagen.
The Champions League usually has wonderful surprises every year, but it does not grant miracles, unless you are
Real Madrid
.
So if the script for this match was written beforehand, both actors wanted to follow every line of the script and every frame of the storyboard.
City had no mercy to advance to the quarterfinals.
[Narrative and Statistics, 3-1]
If in the first leg Guardiola
's team
accumulated 80% of the possession and more than 800 passes, there was little to suggest that this would change in the second leg.
At home, also, of the citizen team where he has not lost this season.
Furthermore, the team has picked up cruising speed this last month and is already stalking
Liverpool
at the top of the Premier League.
He maintained that speed in the Champions League.
Unapproachable.
It didn't take City five minutes to take the lead on the scoreboard.
It wouldn't be a very difficult play, it was at the exit of a corner where
Akanji
was faster than a half-asleep Danish defense, but that's fine too.
Just three later, they would score the second, also on a corner kick.
We would give it to
Julián Álvarez
, but
Grabara
actively helped the ball sneak into the net.
Either City slowed down or the night looked like a historic bloodletting.
The 2-0 score calmed English spirits a little, aware that, like gravity, more goals would end up falling under their own weight.
But that didn't make Neestrup
Hansen
's pupils
spend too much time on the citizen field either.
The dream was over, perhaps further than the Danes thought in a group with the other
Manchester
and
Bayern Munich
.
And then, in a burst of pride and recklessness,
Elyounoussi
launched himself from his field in a desperate race towards the English area, it is fair to say that
City
retreats faster in any training session, he combined with
Oskarsson
, who returned with a beautiful heel , and closed distances.
He now had to gauge whether that sparring crochet would reawaken the champion or continue with that tiring footwork.
The giant, the insatiable, the animal woke up.
Haaland
received a long pass, used his body to protect the ball from the center backs and hit a shot at the near post that was impossible for
Grabara
.
He jumped into the air in a celebration of the Norwegian god and the match was over... again.
The match continued along the same lines of the two-goal lead.
After the hour, almost 75% possession for City and more than 600 passes.
Of course, the clearest one was for
Copenhagen
after an excessive relaxation of the citizen defense.
Ederson
responded well
.
Caution
Guardiola
decided to preserve the health of the few starters who were on the field, in case they were injured as happened to
Matheus Nunes
, but even a City B would win the Danish league with quite a few points advantage.
In a Champions League with 48 teams, there will be even more extreme inequalities than what could be seen yesterday at the Etihad.
In the last minutes,
City
played and played but forgot to attack the opposing goal, which allowed the Danish team to grow, not by attempting any tricks, they lost the tie by four goals, but by giving joy to the numerous visiting fans. who had moved to the Etihad and was jumping and singing with his team down on the scoreboard.
As it was time for tributes, Guardiola did not want to be outdone and did the same with the young
Wright
, who spent a long time waiting for the ball to leave the field to make his debut in the Champions League for the Norwegian giant just a month after doing so in the Premier League.
Nothing happened in the end because nothing could happen, the script was written.