Copenhagen 0-0 Manchester City, qualification postponed

From our correspondent Davide Chinellato

October 11th
– LONDON

Qualification must wait. City drew 0-0 in Copenhagen postponing the appointment with the pass for the round of 16 that would have obtained with a victory. It is not a sensational flop of Guardiola’s team or the consequence of the exclusion of Erling Haaland, after Cancelo the outfield player who had played the most minutes up to now. The draw without goals in the Danish capital is the consequence of a high-tension first half, which City closed in 10 for the expulsion on 30 ‘of Sergio Gómez, in which the absolute protagonist was the Var. The electronic eye canceled City’s 1-0 on 11 ‘, decreed a penalty that Mahrez missed and then red for Guardiola’s young Spanish winger who in the end, with Liverpool arriving Sunday in the Premier League and a qualification in the safe anyway, he was satisfied.

The keys

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City made the game anyway, even in 10. Ball control, endless passes, De Bruyne’s inventions to make it all more interesting. Except that in front of Alvarez, of which Guardiola always says a lot of good, he got lost in the careful defense of Copenhagen and the magic was not as successful as when Haaland tries to throw it in. The Danes, who had taken 5 at Etihad, play with a very young team that has a great desire to show off against such prestigious opponents. Despite the extra man, however, Copenhagen are also lower than City in 10: the 0-0 against the English champions for Neestrup’s team is still a positive result, an important experience to grow. It is worth the 2nd point in the Champions League, always with a 0-0. The City rises to 10 and remain without a goal for the first time since April.

The match

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The Var is the absolute protagonist of the first half: on the 11th minute Rodri’s goal was canceled by Mahrez’s fiscal hands at the beginning of the action; at 23 ‘penalty for City with the hands of Boilesen in the middle of a contrast with Akanji, a penalty that Mahrez gets saved by Grabara; at 30 ‘red card for Sergio Gómez, guilty of having spread Haraldsson on the edge of the area with a foul on which the electronic eye draws the referee’s attention almost a minute later. In 10, the City reorganizes with Dias in place of Mahrez and at the interval it is still 0-0. Some inventions by De Bruyne at the start, but the City falls at a distance and Copenhagen is still too little to bother, even with the extra man. And then the result doesn’t change anymore. And the best thing about the second half is the color and passion of the Danish fans.