Not a striker, but in blood form. That, in a nutshell, is FC Copenhagen that PSV will meet tonight. The Danish club is the opponent in the eighth final of the Conference League. A team that, according to Roger Schmidt, is at the same level as PSV.
If you compare PSV and FC Copenhagen, you will see at least one difference. FC Copenhagen is the leader in the national competition, while PSV is still in second place. The Danish club is in a fierce title battle with Brondby and FC Midtjylland, earlier this season opponent of PSV in the preliminary rounds of the Champions League.
Since the resumption of Danish competition in early February, Copenhagen has not lost a single match. In fact, it hasn’t conceded a goal yet. Something that characterizes the Danish club.
Little possession
Because if you delve deeper into the statistics of the Danes, you will notice that FC Copenhagen has very little possession. The leader has less ball possession than the opponent in nine out of ten matches in the competition. A remarkable fact.
It therefore seems important for PSV not to fall behind. FC Copenhagen excels in defensive solidity, something the people of Eindhoven are having trouble with this season.
PSV has trouble playing against teams that park the bus. It usually gets stuck in a proverbial funnel.
Thank you mistake…
FC Copenhagen does have a problem at the forefront. In the double confrontation, there is no striker in the selection. The Danes can blame themselves for that.
The Danish club had three strikers this winter: Khouma Babacar, Mamoudou Karamoko and former Feyenoord player Nicolai Jorgensen. They had to accommodate the departure of Jonas Wind. He left for Wolfsburg this winter.
A club may register three new players for a European competition in the winter. Because Copenhagen had attracted several players, Karamoko and Jorgensen dropped out. They were not registered. Babacar was put on the player list.
Only Copenhagen had forgotten one thing. Babacar had another two-game suspension. The Senegalese who came over for almost four million euros, took a red card in September 2020. Copenhagen only knew nothing about this until last week.
An unfortunate situation for the Danes, but rules are rules. That’s why coach Jess Thorup has to improvise who will go on the attack. A nice windfall for PSV.