Manchester City confidently reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League. After the 3-1 first leg win, the defending champions also won the second leg against FC Copenhagen 3-1 on Wednesday evening.
Manuel Akanji (5th minute) and Julian Alvarez (9th) quickly eliminated any doubt that the Skyblues would progress with two early goals. Mohames Elyounoussi scored the goal (29th) for Copenhagen, but Erling Haaland (45th + 3) restored the old distance before the break.
The English champions celebrated their eighth win in the eighth game of the Champions League season, scoring three goals as in the previous seven games. City also remained unbeaten in their 20th competitive game in a row.
For the Danes, reaching the knockout phase as second in the group behind Bayern Munich was already a success. Copenhagen left Manchester United and Galatasaray Istanbul behind.
Guardiola rests De Bruyne, Foden and Silva
But Manchester City was always one size too big – coach Pep Guardiola could afford to initially put some of his stars on the bench. Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, among others, were not in the starting line-up, and the coach made seven changes compared to the recent 3-1 league win against Man United.
The defending champions didn’t notice that at first. After the early 2-0 lead, the Skyblues failed to improve despite their clear superiority. But City remained dominant throughout the entire season, the favorites had a lot of possession – and were never in serious danger.
The remaining four quarter-final participants will be determined next week (March 12th / 13th), and the draw will take place on March 15th.