Group stage or UEFA Cup?

On Wednesday F.C. Copenhagen will play SL Benfica in the 2nd leg of the third and final qualifying round for the UEFA Champions League group stage.

By Jan Eliassen

The 1st leg was played two weeks ago in Lisbon and Benfica won the game 2-1 thanks to two powerful strikes from Portuguese veteran Rui Costa. F.C. Copenhagen’s lone goal was scored by Canadian international Atiba Hutchinson.

One of the key elements in Wednesdays match for F.C. Copenhagen will be DEFENCE. In the last two matches in the Danish SAS League, F.C. Copenhagen has played FC Midtjylland and OB, two of the other top clubs in Denmark, and in both games the defence has proven it can prevent the opposition from scoring – as both matches ended in 0-0 draws.

If the defence can make it three clean sheets in a row, then F.C. Copenhagen will “only” have to score once to advance to the group stage on the away goal rule.

Coach Ståle Solbakken told FCK.DK that the game-plan is ready, including a plan B and C, and now we will just have to see what happens during the 90 minutes of play. Ståle Solbakken added that the noise and cheering from the crowd – the so-called 12th man – would give all of the players the needed endurance to run that extra meter - and that could be the decisive factor. Furthermore it is important for all players to maintain focus throughout the game, because, as we saw in the first leg, even the smallest mistake can be costly at an international level.

The game will be officiated by referee Eric Braamhaar, Assistant referee Arie Brink and Patrick Gerritsen and with Pol P.H.M. Van Boekel as the fourth official. All four officials are Dutch.

Eric Braamhaar is one of UEFA’s highest ranked officials, and was in last years UEFA Champions League the man in charge in several games. F.C. Copenhagen has met him once before, as he blew the whistle in the UEFA Cup’s first round in 2005, when F.C. Copenhagen played a 1-1 draw against HSV in Hamburg.

The game starts at 20.45 Wednesday night, and can be seen live at the national Danish TV-station “TV2”.