FC Copenhagen vs Manchester City (UEFA Champions League Last-16 First-Leg): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How To Watch

Manchester City return to UEFA Champions League duties on Tuesday night with the arrival of the round of 16 and the challenge of Denmark’s FC Copenhagen.

Pep Guardiola and his reigning European champions reached the knockout stages with six wins from a possible six, defeating competition from Germany’s RB Leipzig, Switzerland’s BSC Young Boys, and Serbia’s Crvena zvezda.

Manchester City’s first knock-out stage opponents will be no easy task however, with the Danish club progressing from a previously-tipped group of death consisting of Bayern Munich, Manchester United, and Galatasaray.

The Premier League giants come into the clash in a strong run of form, winning all of their last 10 matches across all competitions and claiming the FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia as part of that run.

Last time out, a brace from Erling Haaland was enough to seal the deal against a stubborn Sean Dyche Everton side and also see the Norwegian striker move clear at the top of the Premier League’s goalscoring charts.

A clash with Copenhagen in Denmark is sandwiched between two significant English top-flight meetings, with Pep Guardiola and his players returning from European duties to face Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium.

Fixture Details

The match between FC Copenhagen and Manchester City will take place on Tuesday 13 February with kick-off scheduled for 20:00 GMT.

Team News

Manchester City have named a 21-man travelling squad to take on the challenge of FC Copenhagen this week, with the absence of three of Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad with very little in the way of information on their respective status’.

Manchester City confirm 21-man travelling squad to face Copenhagen in UEFA Champions League

The Etihad Stadium’s Croatian duo of Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic will both play no part in Tuesday night’s contest having been left out of the travelling party, with the latter also missing the weekend’s clash against Everton.

Sergio Gomez is also absent from the 21-man travelling party, with no updates provided by Pep Guardiola on the fitness of the trio following his pre-match press conference from Parken on Monday evening.

Head To Head

FC Copenhagen and Manchester City have faced eachother a total of four times in their respective histories, with two of those meetings coming in last season’s edition of the UEFA Champions League.

City however have never lost to the Danish club, winning on two occassions and drawing twice, with last season’s clashes between the two clubs coming in the group stage of Pep Guardiola’s eventual Champions League-winning season.

Last time City visited Parken, a 0-0 draw was played out but not without controversy. Sergio Gomez received a red card, the visitors missed a penalty, and Rodrigo saw a stunning strike ruled out through a VAR review.

Statistics

• Manchester City have never won away against Danish opposition in major European competition, drawing with FC Copenhagen in 2009 (UEFA Cup) and 2022 (UEFA Champions League), and losing at Aalborg BK in 2009 (UEFA Cup). They did, however, win 1-0 at FC Midtjylland in 2008/09 in UEFA Cup qualifying.

• Danish sides have lost all three of their European Cup/UEFA Champions League home games against reigning European champions by an aggregate score of 12-0 – Køge BK 0-5 Bayern Munich in 1976, Aalborg BK 0-3 Manchester United in 2008, and FC Nordsjælland 0-4 Chelsea in 2012.

• This is just FC Copenhagen’s second appearance in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages – they were eliminated by Chelsea at the round of 16 stage in 2010/11 (0-2 home, 0-0 away).

• Manchester City have won their last eight UEFA Champions League matches, the longest run by an English side in European Cup/Champions League history. The last team to have a longer run were FC Bayern Munich between 2019 and 2020 (15).

How To Watch

For viewers in the United Kingdom, you can view Tuesday night’s match on TNT Sports 1.

For viewers in the United States, you can view the match on CBS.

Full global TV channel listings are available here.

City Xtra will also have live coverage of the game across our X, Facebook, and Instagram, with our live WatchAlong show available on our official YouTube channel from 19:00 (UK) – subscribe and turn notifications on!