Reigning Champion Return Against Revelation
The reigning king of the tournament opens the round of 16 against the Danish team, one of the big surprises. Haaland and De Bruyne are back. Goals are expected.
If it wasn't enough with Manchester City's current form, with ten consecutive victories, the return of Erling Haaland and Kevin de Bruyne, and the status of the reigning champions of the competition, the 'Sky Blues' will have the "privilege" of facing in the round of 16 the Cinderella story, the surprising Copenhagen.
Although the Danes surpassed Galatasaray and Manchester United in the group stage, as well as securing a draw at Bayern Munich's Allianz Arena, they appear to be the most accessible opponent for a City side that hasn't fallen at this stage since the 2016-2017 season, when they were eliminated by Monaco.
With the Premier League leadership in sight and passage to the fifth round of the FA Cup secured, City returns to the Champions League to continue an impeccable campaign in which they have won all six matches they have played.
They do so, furthermore, for the first time this season, with the entire squad available. City already has Haaland back and scoring, netting a brace this weekend against Everton, and De Bruyne, who, after his hamstring injury that kept him out for four months, has been the Premier League's best player in the last month. With John Stones, who has also come and gone this season, City recovers three pillars from the previous Champions League, and Pep Guardiola even managed to rotate on Saturday against Everton.
He left De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva, Josko Gvardiol, and Kyle Walker on the bench, all four potential starters this Tuesday.
Apart from the evident difference in level, Copenhagen faces a common setback for Nordic teams: the winter break in competitions in northern Europe.
It has been two months since they played their last official match, an inactivity they have tried to mitigate with preseason training and several friendlies, also considering the Danish league, which resumes next weekend and where they sit third, two points off the lead.
Copenhagen has taken advantage of the winter transfer window to make three signings, the most notable being Scottish center-back Scott McKenna, loaned from Nottingham Forest.
But they have a significant absence due to suspension for this match: midfielder Lukas Lerager, who is also their top scorer in the tournament with three goals, which will force their coach, Jacob Neestrup, to shuffle several pieces in his eleven.
The good news is that Danish international forward Andreas Cornelius seems to have recovered from his physical problems, which have hardly allowed him to play in the past year, in his third spell with the team he trained with after stints in Italy and Turkey.
It will be the second time Copenhagen has reached the Champions League round of 16 - in 2011, they were defeated by Ancelotti's Chelsea (2-0) - a reward for a remarkable performance in their group, where they finished second ahead of Manchester United and Galatasaray.
