Manchester United are undergoing their final preparations ahead of this evening’s Champions League clash vs Copenhagen.
The reverse fixture came on October 24, with the Reds clinching all three points thanks to Harry Maguire’s header and Andre Onana’s last-gasp penalty-saving heroics. After two straight defeats in their opening group-stage games, a win that night was imperative, but there’s no doubt that the Danes would’ve left Old Trafford feeling aggrieved.
Now, United must overturn Copenhagen again – anything less than a win and they can practically kiss goodbye to their chances of qualification to the knock-outs. Dropping down to the Europa League would also be incredibly humiliating given the quality Erik ten Hag’s side boasts over their opponents.
The atmosphere at Parken Stadium tonight is set to be a hostile one, with Jacob Neestrup claiming it’ll be ‘times 100’ of what we witnessed in M16 a fortnight ago. While United fans would certainly rebuff this claim, there are doubts over whether the players will be able to see out their best performance against such a lively and fiery backdrop.
Those Reds that have made the trip over to Denmark will be doing their utmost to make their voices heard amidst the madness, as United’s away support always does.
How the sides fare ahead of kick-off
In terms of form heading into the game, Copenhagen’s won their three subsequent games after losing to United last month; a 4-0 win over Hvidovre, 1-0 against Midtjylland and a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Randers on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Ten Hag has come under fire for the results he has overseen recently; two consecutive 3-0 losses to Manchester City and Newcastle United rounded off the Reds’ worst start to a season in 61 years. Last Saturday, they bounced back with a much-needed 1-0 win at Craven Cottage.
Let’s be realistic here: I said before that I thought we’d struggle to qualify, and if we did, we’d be eliminated by the first decent team we met.
The heck with ‘humiliation’, the Europa represents a chance to stay involved in European football for longer – European away matches!! – and gives the team longer to gell ( finally understand what ETH wants from them ) playing at a slightly lower level. And it is ‘slightly’: there’s some good teams in the Europa – probably even better than the mighty Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen.
Ahm: as I was saying….