Leverkusen og Hobro: Fornemmelse for røde ører

Bayer Leverkusen blev trukket op af tombolaen for et par timer siden. Humøret steg i København, i Danmark og på #sldk. Det kunne have været meget værre.

Men husk træningskampen mod Lyon. De skulle være miles away fra fordums styrke. Det er de utvivlsomt også. Men det sammenrend af talenter, nyindkøb og reserver, de havde sendt til København, lod ikke FCK få et ben til jorden. Det var lidt skræmmende. Og jeg har flere gange før fået samme fornemmelse, når jeg har stået i Parken og set, hvad man troede var en overkommelig modstander fra midten af en af de bedre ligaer, vise sig at være overlegen. Ingen nævnt, ingen glemt.

Leverkusen kunne vise sig at være én af disse uanselige men uopnåelige legekammerater.

Så ser jeg derimod frem til weekenden som et rigtigt følelsesmenneske. Det meste af af Superligaen tør jeg egentlig slet ikke spå om. Psykisk udfordrede Brøndby vinder forhåbentlig ikke mod et OB, der har alt at bevise. FCK og Malmø viser klassen. Og FCM formår i modsætning til så mange andre at score mod Sønderjyske.

Det har jeg turdet spille på. Men jeg ved ikke, om skal stole på min kupon. Hidtil er min tilbagebetalingsprocent på sølle 42%.

Så skulle der være antijinxet for røde ører i både Europa og suppen.

Champions League 2010

Very nice Champions League campaign including these three Copenhagen memories:

København - Rubin 1-0

København - Barcelona 1-1

København - Panathinaikos 3-1

#    Clubs            W    D    L    F    A   +/-   Pts
1    FC Barcelona     4    2    0   14    3   11    14
2    FC København     3    1    2    7    5    2    10
3    FC Rubin Kazan   1    3    2    2    4   -2     6
4    Panathinaikos    0    2    4    2   13  -11     2


Ludicrous dominance in Danish league with 19 points lead to #2. Lost count of the number of records broken:

UEFA goal of the week by Aílton Almeida

Picking the ball up just inside the Horsens half, Aílton effortlessly slips past a defender before tumbling as he attempts to round the goalkeeper. Having almost run the ball out of play near the corner of the area, he somehow keeps it in, chips it over the custodian as he springs past him, and then finishes with the outside of his boot from a seemingly impossible angle to clinch a 2-0 win which took FCK two points clear of Brøndby IF at the top of the Danish Superligaen.

UEFA Cup blues

OK so we lost to a really good team round 1, right? Since then their league results have been...

• St. Etienne-Grenoble 0-2


• St. Etienne-Lorient 1-4


• Marseille-St. Etienne 3-1

Impressive. Their coach has been given until Sunday: First beat Rosenborg then beat Rennes... or you're fired. Coincidentally our coach, Solbakken, has stated his intentions to move to something bigger than FC København. I suppose a lot of fans will agree the feeling is mutual. Perhaps there is a job for you in France next Sunday? Perhaps not.

Tomorrow is round 2 which - of course - I look so much forward to I search the web for obscure info: Uefa Cup Preview: Valencia - FC Copenhagen

Valencia will be looking to make a strong start in Europe as they play their first group game when FC Copenhagen visit Mestalla on Thursday evening, while the visitors will be looking for their first points.

[...]

Valencia in Mestalla will, arguably, be their toughest game and without first-choice centre-backs Ulrik Laursen and Peter Larsson they will not be relishing the prospect of an in-form David Villa. Defeat for the visitors could mean that they face an uphill struggle to make the next round

[...]

PREDICTION

Copenhagen are likely to travel to Mestalla to defend, but with a rearranged rearguard things may not be as organised as coach Ståle Solbakken would like and that is where Valencia could take advantage. There may be a few nerves from the home side at the outset, but an early goal should lift the team and then a comfortable victory is likely to be theirs.

Valencia 2 - 0 FC Copenhagen

Let me just mentally prepare for this sight for a second...

Group G Pld Pts
St Etienne 2 6
Valencia 1 3
Club Brugge 1 1
Rosenborg 2 1
København 2 0

Goodnight.

Star of the Euro 2008: Libor Sionko

The Czech striker looked lively and the biggest threat to Portugal's dominance alongside Milan Baros. Indeed, with a powerful header, the hard-working frontman put his side on level terms after Deco's eigth-minute opener.

Sionko is in fine form, knocking in two past Scotland in a pre-tournament friendly a fortnight ago.

I agree so far. Not too sure how realistic a transfer to Stoke is though!

UEFA Cup group stage draw

Group B
1. Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
2. FC Lokomotiv Moskva (RUS)
3. Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
4. FC København (DEN)
5. Aberdeen FC (SCO)

UEFA.com / Past masters meet in group stage, Daily Record / Dons get Atletico, Lokomotiv, Panathinaikos, Copenhagen.

Possible UEFA Cup opponents

Our coefficient of 19.129 puts us in fourth seeding layer. Meaning next week one team from each of the following pots will end up in the same UEFA Cup group as us.

Pot 1: Villarrea, Bayern München, AZ Alkmaar, Panathinaikos, FC Basel, Girondins Bordeaux, Bayer Leverkusen, Anderlecht.
Pot 2: Tottenham Hotspur, Lokomotiv Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg, Sparta Praha, AEK Athens, Hamburger, Bolton Wanderers, Austria Wien.
Pot 3: Spartak Moscow, Sporting Braga, Galatasaray, Atlético Madrid, Getafe, Everton, Fiorentina, Stade Rennais.
Pot 5: Aris Thessaloniki, Aberdeen, FC Zürich, AE Larissa, SK Brann Bergen, IF Elfsborg, Helsingborg IF. (Not AaB Aalborg because no teams from the same association are put in the same group.)

(Once again: thank heavens for copy/paste.)

We're in the UEFA Cup

As of writing this, when I Google for articles on tonight's game vs Lens, zero (0) turns up. I can't have that so here we go: The FC København vs RC Lens UEFA Cup qualification game from the perspective of a Copenhagener.

Buying the ticket I felt realistically hopeful we'd progress. Drawing 1-1 at home in the first of two games like these is hard to turn around for a aggregate win; it's only happens about 1 in 5 times. (Which is not the same thing as saying FC København had 4 in 5 chance of progress like the Danish newspaper B.T. incompetently did.)

It was a rainy evening in Copenhagen and the pitch was unpredictable and fast. The referee soon proved to be about the same quality as the pitch. Not the best conditions but ok.

Just a quarter of an hour into the game Lens' Eric Carriere took advantage of a loose ball and put the guests ahead. The home side atmosphere dropped somewhat but both audience and players kept it going. Quite a few chances were missed in both ends of the stadium.

Outstanding performances were pulled by Libor Sionko and Jesper Christiansen among others. The former thanking the coach by fielding him in the starting 11 by being a constant threat to Lens' left side, a physical and technical feat on a very large part of the pitch; the latter by performing a handful of world class saves.

Then with a quarter of an hour to go Marcus Allbäck leveled the score when it was the French defense who were taking a little nap. Symptomatic of a close and very professional game. People in the stand went nuts.

Five minutes into the overtime Michael Gravgaard had to risk everything to stop a Lens attack but got the man in stead of the ball and was correctly sent off. This provoked the international debut of 17 year old Mattias 'Zanka' Jørgensen (he already did five minutes of Danish Cup and 15 minutes of Danish league time). And boy did he do well! Applause for Zanka!

But the following minutes turned into some kind of nightmare with Lens trying to finish off Copenhagen. Then Libor Sionko led a counter attack and was run over in the Lens penalty area. The resulting penalty kick was taken advantage of by Jesper Grønkjær, FC København had one leg in the UEFA Cup group phase and the stands were in ecstasy.

I had been thinking 200 Dkr for the ticket to a game against "some French team" was a little expensive. As far as I remember, it was cheaper when we beat Lazio? But let's just say this one was worth it all. Whew!

UEFA Cup opponent: RC Lens

RC Lens (FRA) v FC København (DEN)

Sources: uefa.com - UEFA Cup, Fortune smiles on English sides - Yahoo! Eurosport.

RC Lens has an impressive UEFA coefficient of 51.706 - compare that to Benfica's 67.149. This season's Le Championnat results have so far been less than impressive though: Bordeaux-Lens 1-0, Lens-Paris SG 0-0, Lens-Valenciennes 0-0 and Strasbourg-Lens 2-1. Probably in part because they focused on their international games: In the second qualifying round for the UEFA Cup they defeated Young Boys 5-1 (uefa.com - Lens ensure dream start for Papin). Yes, Jean-Pierre Papin is their coach. Interesting.

Goodbye Champions League. Hello UEFA Cup

SL Benfica stood firm in the face of a tide of pressure from FC København as Kostas Katsouranis' first-half goal proved enough to secure a 3-1 aggregate victory for the Portuguese outfit, and a place in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Source: uefa.com - Battling Benfica deny København.

The hosts had started best, chalking up several chances in the first 15 minutes and looked the stronger team for much of the match but failed to convert their opportunities into goals.

Source: ESPNsoccernet - FC Copenhagen v Benfica Report

Shots at goal statistic: about 8 against 2. Unbelievable. On top of that, ref Eric 'Ajax loverboy' Braamhaar, missed calling the most obvious penalty I remember seeing. Some swift short passing brought Allbäck in a position clear for finishing but his man marker didn't hesitate kicking right at his supporting leg. If that wasn't a penalty, torture, maiming or otherwise violating a Geneva Convention is needed for one.

Luckily, Mr. Braamhaar didn't miss the opportunity to hand out a yellow card to Atiba Hutchinson for stating the obvious. And since when is blatantly handballing to deflect a mega-chance not a red card offense? OK, that might have been a tough call, but seriously. Silberbauer, I believe it was, was denied an enormous chance later in the game. Gee, I'm so sorry Braamhaar's Ajax also left the tournament 1-3 yesterday.

Good luck to Benfica.

Jerusalem and Beitars considering the challenge

Two articles from the Jerusalem Post. The Last Word: European hopes for Israel's teams:

[...] to be pitted against Danish champion FC Copenhagen has made the light at the end of the qualifying tunnel seem even further than before.

Copenhagen is not just the biggest team in Denmark, but it has recently become one of the powerhouses of Scandanavian soccer. [...]

It's not going to be easy for Betar on July 31, with the first game in Denmark, but with good preparation the Israelis could produce a shock result, which would incidentally only take them through to a second qualifying game against even higher quality oppositoin.

Betar drawn with FC Copenhagen in Champions League qualifier

"The draw is difficult, but reasonable," Betar coach Yitzhak Schum said. "We must advance no matter who we face. I hope that after the tie is over we'll be able to say that the draw was good."

[...]

"The draw could have been better and it could have been worse," Betar midfielder Michael Zandberg said. "Copenhagen is a strong side with European experience and we can't afford to underestimate any team."

[...]

"I think this is a good draw, we could have been drawn against better sides," veteran defender David Amsalem said. "It's always better to play the first leg away from home. They don't know what Teddy's like and our main goal will be to settle the tie in Jerusalem."

It's Beitar Jerusalem

The first bump on our road to more international glory has just appeared like a rabbit out of the magician's hat: it's Beitar Jerusalem [UEFA.com | Wikipedia] of Israel.

From the live draw at UEFA.com


More info at UEFA.com.

Nasty side effect of UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body decision

Fully as expected, the Denmark vs Sweden game is now a 0 -3 Sweden win following UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body meeting. However...

As well as awarding the match to Sweden by default, the Danish Football Association (DBU) has been fined 100,000CHF (€61,000) and ordered to play their next four home UEFA EURO 2008™ qualifiers at least 250km from Copenhagen.

This means zero more ticket sales earnings from national games for FC København. Stocks have already dropped a bit. DBU will appeal the UEFA decision. The closest appropriate stadium seems to be Hamburg, Germany!

See UEFA.com / Copenhagen contest goes to Sweden.

UEFA competitions 2007/2008

A quick note of important dates and possible opponents.

• 29th of June: UEFA draws 1st and 2nd qualification rounds


• 31st of July and 1st of August: 1st leg 2nd qualification round. FC København enters at 2nd qualification round for the Champions League as a seeded team.


• 3rd of August: UEFA draws 3rd qualification round. If in it, FC København will be un-seeded.


• 7th and 8th of August: 2nd leg 2nd qualification round


• 14th and 15th of August: 1st leg 3rd qualification round


• 28th and 29th of August: 2nd leg 3rd qualification round

Possible opponents in the 2nd qualification round include: Beitar Jerusalem (Isr), Zaglebie Lubin (Pol), NK Domzale * (Slo), IF Elfsborg * (Swe), FK Sarajevo * (Bos), FK Ventspils * (Lat), MSK Zilina * (Svk), Derry City * (Irl), FH Hafnarfjardar * (Isl), FBK Kaunas * (Lit), Tampere United * (Fin), Sheriff Tiraspol * (Mol), Olimpi Rustavi * (Geo), Pobeda Prilep * (Mac). Teams marked "*" have to qualify through the 1st round though. So this list is kind of the "worst case scenario" (unless of course some good team advances from TOTO Cup through 1st round!). Anything but easily qualifying for the 3rd round would be disastrous.

Possible opponents in the 3rd qualification round include: Liverpool (Eng), Arsenal (Eng), Valencia (Esp), another Spanish team to qualify (Zaragoza, Atleteco Madrid, Villarreal or Getafe I believe), Benfica (Por), Ajax (Ned), Werder Bremen (Ger), Celtic (Sco), Steaua Bucuresti ** (Rom), Lazio (Ita), Glasgow Rangers ** (Sco), Shakhtar Donetsk (**) (Ukr), Besiktas ** (Tur), Anderlecht (Bel), Dinamo Kiev (**) (Ukr), Levski Sofia ** (Bul). Teams marked "**" have to qualify through the 2nd round though. Realistic expectations should include losing the 3rd qualification round match-up to enter the UEFA Cup (as usual - and most likely as un-seeded).

For more information see Bert Kassies homepage.

Irish FA chief executive complaining

Belfast Telegraph International / Angry Wells slams Danes

"I complained to UEFA about this stadium [PARKEN, home ground of both FC København and Denmark national] before as it's the same one we played in back in October," said Wells.

"I was very unhappy with the way our fans were treated in general at the stadium.

The stewarding was poor, access to the stadium was poor and the gates were not open in time."