Manchester City were in fine form as they sealed a 3-1 win against Copenhagen on Wednesday, completing a 6-2 aggregate victory and also advancing to the Champions League quarterfinals. The defending champions were dominant and goals from Manuel Akanji, Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland proved that.
Despite the win, Pep Guardiola will have an injury issue to deal with. Portugal international Matheus Nunes, who started the match, was forced off in the second-half after falling awkwardly on his hand and breaking one of his fingers. The injury was gruesome as photos of it went viral on social media.
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Guardiola made plenty of changes for the Champions League match, making seven changes to his starting line-up. "I played against Luton in the FA Cup and was not thinking about United. I played today and needed energy, fresh legs," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Guardiola made plenty of changes for the Champions League match, making seven changes to his starting line-up. "I played against Luton in the FA Cup and was not thinking about United. I played today and needed energy, fresh legs," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"I know how tired and exhausted some players were today to play three days after United. Normally in the Champions League when you play Wednesday in all the countries in the world - except in this country - they allow you to play on Saturday. We played on Sunday. So I needed fresh legs. People who could sustain. We were fortunate, lucky to score two early. That helped us a lot because this competition is so tricky, so dangerous," he added.
City have won 28 of their last 30 home fixtures in the Champions League (drawn two), including each of their last 12 in a row. They are the only second side to go 30-plus consecutive home games without a defeat in the competition after Barcelona (38 from September 2013 to November 2020).
City are also the first team in a major European competition history to score three-plus goals in nine consecutive home fixtures, a run which started with a 5-0 rout over Copenhagen in October 2022.