Brøndby coming to town
Unfortunately the miracle wasn’t to be at Stamford Bridge, as FC Copenhagen's participation in European competition ended with a scoreless draw. But this isn’t the end of the big games for the season, because Brøndby will be heading to PARKEN on Sunday hoping to claim all three points from the Danish champions.
by Joe Short
Brøndby will also be looking to avenge the loss suffered at the hands of Copenhagen back in the autumn. The 2-0 September scoreline was the third game in a row FCK had beaten the old foes by such a margin. Whereas once the distribution of victories was fairly evenly divided between the two clubs, the Lions have pushed forward in recent games, having not lost to Brøndby in six matches, spanning back to a 1-0 defeat in 2008.
In the Superliga, the two clubs have met 58 times. FC Copenhagen have won 29: exactly half. The remaining 29 have seen 11 draws and 18 wins for Brøndby. If you include games in the Royal League and the Danish Cup, there has been 72 matches, 33 wins for Copenhagen, 14 draws and 25 wins for Brøndby.
The latest showdown
In the past six games, FCK have beaten Brøndby five times, with five clean sheets. The other game of these six was a 1-1 draw back in August 2008 at PARKEN.
The latest game came in the ninth round of this season. The match was played at PARKEN in front of 28,215 spectators, who saw Thomas Rasmussen foul Christian Bolaños for an FCK penalty after just six minutes. César Santin tucked away the penalty off the left-hand post – the ball creeping just over the line – to give Copenhagen the lead.
It was Santin who scored the second and final goal as well. Neat footwork by Dame N'Doye found Claudemir, who played Santin through on goal with a fine pass. The Brazilian knocked the ball firmly past Michael Tørnes in front of the traveling Brøndby supporters, securing a 2-0 victory for the Lions.
Brøndby this spring
Brøndby are currently in third place on 34 point – 20 points behind FC Copenhagen – while only a single point off OB. They are one point ahead of FC Midtjylland. However, the Herning club have a game in hand over Brøndby, and so competition for second spot – and a place in the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage – is fierce.
This spring, Brøndby have collected four points. In the first match at Brøndby Stadium they were held 1-1 by Lyngby BK. Lyngby’s Anders Christiansen gave the visitors the lead, but in injury time Daniel Wass secured a point for the home side.
Their second game of the spring – also at home – was against SønderjyskE. Here, Brøndby deservedly won the match. Mikael Nilsson gave the home side the lead at the start of the second half, while Wass once again bagged an injury time goal to secure all three points.
Brøndby’s squad
Brøndby were not particularly active in terms of buying and selling in the winter transfer window. The only player who has come to Vestegnen is the 28-year-old American defender Clarence Goodson. He most certainly won’t be stretching his legs at PARKEN on Sunday however, as he is injured.
Although only one man has arrived, a variety have left the Brøndby set up. Alexander Farnerud moved to Swiss Young Boys of Berne. Stefan Gislason’s contract has ended by mutual consent, while Peter Madsen and Pierre Knastrup have been loaned out to Lyngby BK and Brønshøj respectively.
