Copenhagen’s Elias Achouri has admitted that Manchester United’s performance in their first Champions League meeting was underwhelming.
You’d struggle to find a United fan that would disagree with that sentiment.
The Red Devils faced the Danes on October 24 and after tasting defeat in their opening two group-stage games, this one was a must-win.
Harry Maguire’s 72nd-minute header broke the deadlock during a tightly-contested outing but it was Andre Onana’s last-gasp penalty heroics, in which he denied Jordan Larsson from the spot in injury time, that saw United clinch all three points.
United are now preparing for the reverse fixture this Wednesday and this time, they won’t have the Old Trafford faithful roaring them on to see out a result. Should they produce anything less than a win, they can kiss goodbye to their hopes of European progression.
For Copenhagen, they’ll have left Manchester feeling overwhelmingly aggrieved at the outcome of the game but will be filled with more confidence at how long they were able to go toe-to-toe with the Premier League giants.
Achouri previews United clash
Achouri weighed in on the fixture when speaking to Tipsbladet, saying: “We believe that we can achieve a result if we do the same at home as we did at Old Trafford. The match at Old Trafford was completely even. Manchester United was not better than FC Copenhagen in that match.
“I expected a bit more from them, but we also understand their situation. We know they have top players, so we should respect them, but we can certainly do something.”
