Manchester City are closing in on a seventh successive Uefa Champions League quarterfinal as Copenhagen travel to north-west England needing to overturn a 3-1 home defeat.
The holders made it seven wins from seven in this season's competition – and nine straight Champions League victories – in Denmark on 13 February, Kevin De Bruyne's tenth-minute opener giving them an early advantage at Parken. Magnus Mattsson marked his Copenhagen debut with a fine equaliser in the 34th minute but City were back in front before halftime through Bernardo Silva (45+1) 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.
City – 5-0 victors at home to the Danish side in last season's group stage – won all six games in their section this season for the first time, finishing six points above Leipzig in Group G and scoring 18 goals in total against the German club, Young Boys and Crvena zvezda.
Copenhagen reached the round of 16 for only the second time as Group A runners-up, eight points behind section winners Bayern München but three ahead of Galatasaray and four above City's local rivals Manchester United.
City are making their 11th successive knockout appearance and have won their last six contests at this stage. By contrast, Copenhagen's sole previous round of 16 tie, in 2010/11, ended in elimination against English opponents.
MATCH FACTS
Manchester City remain unbeaten against FC Copenhagen in European competition (W3 D2), while the last meeting between the sides at the Etihad Stadium ending in a 5-0 win for the Citizens (in October 2022).
FC Copenhagen have never won away from home against English opposition in European competition, drawing two and losing five of their previous seven attempts. The Danish side have also failed to score a goal in each of the last four in this run, all of which have been in the Uefa Champions League.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola has never been eliminated from a two-legged Uefa Champions League tie after winning the first leg away from home, progressing on all previous nine occasions when doing so (six times with Man City, twice with Barcelona, and once with FC Bayern München).
This will be just FC Copenhagen’s fourth game in the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League, while they’re winless in the previous three (D1 L2). They’ve not won away from home in the competition since December 2016 (2-0 v Club Brugge) and have only scored two goals in their six away trips since that last victory (D2 L4).
Manchester City have won each of their last nine games in the Uefa Champions League and could become just the third side to win 10+ in a row in the competition, after Real Madrid (a run of 10 in February 2015) and FC Bayern München (a run of 15 in November 2020 and a 10-game run in November 2013).
Manchester City have scored at least three goals in each of their last eight home games in the Uefa Champions League, and could become the first to do so in as many as nine in a row at home in the European Cup/Uefa Champions League (three other teams previously had a run of eight: FC Bayern München in 2016, Real Madrid in 1964 and Benfica in 1962).
Manchester City have the highest pass completion rate under pressure of any team in the Uefa Champions League this season (90.6 per cent), while FC Copenhagen (76.2 per cent) have the lowest such completion rate among all teams involved in the round of 16.
Manchester City’s two top scorers in the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League are Kevin De Bruyne (12) and Bernardo Silva (11), both of whom netted in the first leg against FC Copenhagen. De Bruyne also assisted in that match, and has been directly involved in 20 goals in his last 22 appearances in the knockout stages of the competition (10 goals, 10 assists).
As of the end of the first leg matches in the round of 16, the three players who had applied the most pressures in the Uefa Champions League this season were FC Copenhagen trio Mohamed Elyounoussi (683), Viktor Claesson (651) and Elias Achouri (628).
Phil Foden has been directly involved in seven goals for Manchester City in the Uefa Champions League this season (four goals, three assists), already his most in a single campaign. The 23-year-old also leads all players in the competition this term for passes that have broken the opposition’s defensive line (17).