Two Manchesters are too much for Copenhagen

The first matches of the 1/8 finals of the play-offs took place in the football Champions League. Real beat RB Leipzig on the road with difficulty – 1:0, and Manchester City also confidently beat Copenhagen away – 3:1. Now it is unlikely that anything will prevent the Spanish and English teams from reaching the next round.

The next playoffs of the Champions League opened with matches involving probably the main contenders for victory in the tournament – Manchester City and Real Madrid. And in the group stage, they were the only ones who managed to score maximum points. Naturally, they were considered the undisputed favorites compared to their much more modest opponents in the 1/8 finals. Well, except that Leipzig, according to pre-match estimates, had a chance to create some problems for Real at home. In addition, Madrid lost their main central defenders and attack leader Jude Bellingham due to injuries.

However, by the time of the game at the Red Bull Arena, Nacho managed to recover, taking his place in the center of defense along with the nominal defensive midfielder Aurélien Chuameni, and Dani Carvajal returned to his usual position as a right-back. With him as a centre-back, it would certainly be more difficult for Real to contain the towering Benyamin Sheshko. As for Bellingham, he was replaced by Brahim Diaz.

In the first minutes, Leipzig looked better, which even opened the scoring after a corner kick, when visiting goalkeeper Andrei Lunin made a mistake at the exit and Sheshko hit the empty net. However, VAR canceled the goal, recording a violation of the rules on the part of the attacking team. Sheshko could have scored again right away, but now Lunin made no mistake. Soon he again had to save Real from the Slovenian striker, who in the debut felt too at ease under the tutelage of Nacho and Chuameni. True, even then Madrid could not establish control over the game. They seemed to push it away from their own gates, but they practically did not threaten strangers. Even the usually hyperactive Vinicius Junior somehow disappeared on the field.

Diaz was also completely unnoticeable in the first half; he simply could not stand any comparison with Bellingham. But immediately after the break, he showed off his extraordinary skill, dribbling past three opponents and beautifully spinning the ball into the far corner with his left foot. The goal opened up the game and allowed Real Madrid to catch Leipzig on counterattacks. The same Vinicius received a lot of free space and began to take advantage of it. One of his raids almost led to a second goal, when the home team was saved by the post. On the other hand, the German club at times put serious pressure on the goal of Lunin, who repelled unpleasant shots from Sheshko and Amadou Aidar.

As a result, Madrid retained a minimal advantage, and now they only have to secure a ticket to the quarterfinals at home. Leipzig made a good impression, but at the Santiago Bernabeu they will most likely be opposed by another, more powerful Real Madrid. And Bellingham, according to forecasts, will already be operational.

In the match between Copenhagen and Manchester City, a result other than the victory of the English giants was not considered in principle. Although the Danish club made a fair amount of noise in the group, having swept past the play-offs of Manchester United, against last year’s Champions League winner, in all circumstances, it had zero chances. Yes, that season City played Copenhagen at Parken to zero, but now it was hardly worth attaching any significance to this generally ordinary meeting for Pep Guardiola’s men in the group stage. Moreover, their current form deserved the highest marks, while Jakob Neestrup’s team has not played a single official match since December.

It is not surprising that the Manchester men immediately began to siege the gates of Kamil Grabara and quickly achieved success. Already in the tenth minute, Kevin De Bruyne brilliantly shot low from a rather acute angle. Then the guests should have increased the difference, but instead they missed with the first shot on target. In that episode, they were attacked by goalkeeper Ederson, who, when clearing the ball, passed it directly to Mohamed Elyounoussi. He tried to score himself and hit the defender, but Magnus Mattsson picked up the rebound and still punished Ederson. Nevertheless, City ended the first half in their favor. Bernardo Silva, finding himself alone in front of the goal, calmly dealt with Grabara.

In the second half, the Manchester team continued, as they say, to carry Copenhagen. The hosts were only thinking about how to lose by a decent score and were close to doing so, but Phil Foden’s pass from De Bruyne made it 3-1 in stoppage time. It is obvious that City are almost in the quarter-finals.

Alexander Ilyin