Manchester City take on Copenhagen in the second leg of the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday night.
Pep Guardiola’s side left Denmark with a 3-1 lead after goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden, and the advantage could encourage the manager to rotate his squad, with a match against Liverpool coming up on Sunday.
City will also be boosted by their dominant 3-1 win in the Manchester derby, coming back from a goal behind to move to one point behind Jurgen Klopp’s men.
However, Guardiola urged his side not to be complacent ahead of the clash, saying at a press conference: “In football everything can happen, and we have to be aware of that.
“We have respect for Copenhagen and how they play. The Champions League is Champions League. The best eight teams in Europe [will move to the next round].”
Follow all the live action in the blog below and get the latest odds and tips here.
Man City vs FC Copenhagen LIVE
Manchester City host FC Copenhagen in the Champions League last-16 with kick off at 8pm
City hold a 3-1 advantage on aggregate after their win in the first leg
Josko Gvardiol could return though Jack Grealish is absent through injury
Man City XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Bobb, Alvarez, Nunes, Haaland
Man City team changes
18:50 , Mike Jones
Pep Guardiola makes seven changes to the City line-up that started the Manchester derby last weekend. The players that remain in the team are Ederson in goal, Ruben Dias in defence, Rodri in midfield and Erling Haaland up front.
In come Rico Lewis, Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Mathues Nunes, Oscar Bobb and Julian Alvarez.
Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne start on the bench.
Man City line-up
18:47 , Mike Jones
Man City XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, Bobb, Alvarez, Nunes, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Stones, Ake, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gomez, Foden, Wright, Susoho, Hamilton
Tonight’s #UCL squad 💫
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias (C), Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Kovacic, Bobb, Alvarez, Nunes, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Stones, Ake, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gomez, Foden, Wright, Susoho, Hamilton#ManCity pic.twitter.com/wIcExpBAFy
— Manchester City (@ManCity) March 6, 2024
Man City vs Copenhagen
18:46 , Mike Jones
Phil Foden has seven goals and two assists in his last eight games in all competitions. Will he step up and perform again this evening or will Pep Guardiola rest him for a vital Premier League clash this weekend?
Pep Guardiola makes huge Phil Foden claim after Manchester derby masterclass
18:40 , Mike Jones
Pep Guardiola described Phil Foden as “world class” and the player of the season after the winger scored a match-winning double in the Manchester derby.
Manchester City were trailing to a Marcus Rashford goal before Foden struck twice, to take his tally to 18 goals for the campaign, in a 3-1 victory.
It led Guardiola to say the 23-year-old will become a legend, stating: “Winning games is when you become a world-class player. Everyone can play good but you have to win games and he wins games. What can I say?”
Pep Guardiola makes huge Phil Foden claim after Manchester derby masterclass
Man City and Copenhagen’s last meeting
18:35 , Mike Jones
Manchester City made it seven wins from seven in this season’s competition – and nine straight Champions League victories – in Denmark.
Kevin De Bruyne’s 10th-minute opener gave them an early advantage at Parken though Magnus Mattsson marked his Copenhagen debut with a fine equaliser in the 34th minute.
City were back in front before half-time through Bernardo Silva and took a firm grip on the tie when Phil Foden curled in a third two minutes into stoppage time at the end of the match.
Haaland on coping with missing chances
18:30 , Mike Jones
When City were 1-0 down, Erling Haaland missed a huge chance in the Manchester derby at the weekend to equalise. For 15 minutes or so he played on knowing that his team should be level before Phil Foden slotted in their first goal.
City went on the win 3-1 with Haaland scoring their third. His miss did not seem to affect the rest of his game, though that has not always been the case.
He explained: “It has been a challenge for me. When I was young, I could start crying if we lost and I missed chances.
“It is a mental thing, I don’t have any exercises but it is something I have been working naturally on. It is like everything in life, if you overthink it is it is not good. I have got one career and I try to have the best career possible and become the best version of myself.”
He added: “Last year [as] top scorer I got 36 goals and this season I have 18 so you can think in two ways if I have a good season or not. But, yeah, I miss a lot of chances. I will still miss a lot of chances and score goals.
“I will probably miss a big chance in the future and people will criticise me. I missed the biggest chance in the world two days ago.”
Hunger for trophies still there for Haaland
18:25 , Mike Jones
Erling Haaland says winning a treble with Manchester City last season has let him with a desire to win more trophies and silverware for the club.
He said: “You can think about it in two ways: one thing I came here and won it all and the other thing, I am 23 and won everything and I got the taste of it and how I work is when I feel this, I want to win it again. Easy as that.”
Erling Haaland deflects Real Madrid transfer talk to focus on new Man City target
18:20 , Mike Jones
Erling Haaland has declared that winning the treble has increased his hunger to do it all again as he insisted he is very happy at Manchester City.
The Norwegian, who has long been linked with Real Madrid, said he is not yet thinking about extending his deal at the Etihad Stadium, which runs until 2027, but is instead concentrating on repeating last season’s success.
Haaland scored 52 goals in his debut year for City as they won the Premier League, the FA Cup and the Champions League and Pep Guardiola’s side have the chance to repeat the feat.
Erling Haaland deflects Real Madrid transfer talk to focus on new Man City target
Man City vs Copenhagen prediction
18:15 , Mike Jones
Following their comfortable victory away in Denmark, Manchester City bring a two-goal cushion into the second leg.
They shouldn’t need it as Pep Guardiola’s men are drilled to win every game they play and have the ability, even with their squad players, to go through in comfort.
Manchester City 3-1 Copenhagen (6-2 agg.)
Predicted line-ups
18:10 , Mike Jones
Manchester City XI: Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Gvardiol; Lewis, Rodri; Foden, Kovacic, Nunes, Doku; Alvarez.
Copenhagen XI: Grabara; Jelert, Vavro, McKenna, Diks; Goncalves, Falk, Mattsson; Elyounoussi, Larsson, Achouri.
What is the early team news?
18:05 , Mike Jones
Josko Gvardiol was back on the bench for the Manchester derby, leaving Jack Grealish as Pep Guardiola’s only senior absentee. The Manchester City manager may well look to rotate in places with a crunch clash with Liverpool to come on Sunday.
Copenhagen suffered an injury blow in their weekend league defeat as Viktor Claesson was withdrawn, while Emil Hojlund is a doubt. Lukas Lerager is back available having served a suspension but may also be out due to injury.
How to watch Man City vs Copenhagen
18:00 , Mike Jones
The second leg of the Champions League tie between Manchester City and FC Copenhagen is due to kick off at 8pm GMT on Wednesday 6 March at the Etihad Stadium.
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on TNT Sports 1, with coverage on the channel from 7.30pm GMT. Subscribers can stream the action via discovery+.
If you’re travelling abroad and want to watch major sporting events, you might need a VPN to unblock your streaming app. Our VPN round-up is here to help and includes deals on VPNs in the market. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.
Man City vs FC Copenhagen
11:07 , Sonia Twigg
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Man City vs Copenhagen.
Stay tuned for all the live updates and team news as Pep Guardiola’s side look to cement their place in the quarter-finals.
