The match report:
Full-time: FC Copenhagen 0-0 Leicester City
It’s over. Leicester edge closer to qualification for the last 16. They’ll take a draw that lifts them to 10 points at the top of Group G and are yet to concede a Champions League goal. Thanks for reading. Bye.
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90 min: Just as he did in when these two sides met two weeks ago, Kasper Schmeichel makes a brilliant late save to deny Andreas Cornelius! Kusk crossed from the right and Cornelius sent a downward header towards the bottom right corner, only for Schmeichel to plunge to his right and claw it out. The rebound came to Santander, a few yards out, but composure deserted him and he slashed it high and wide.
89 min: Augustinsson lets himself down with a wretched cross that sails out of play. Copenhagen are running out of time.
85 min: Fuch catches Kusk dawdling on the ball and sets off on a charge down the left. He knocks it towards the far post for Vardy, who tries to nod it down for the onrushing Okazaki. Almost. Not quite. It’s been that sort of game.
83 min: Kasper Kusk replaces Verbic.
81 min: Leicester have dropped back again. The onus is on Copenhagen. There could be space for Leicester on the break.
78 min: Morgan picks up a booking for a foul on Santander, who made the most of very little contact.
77 min: After Vardy wins a corner after a searing run down the left, Drinkwater wallops a shot over from 18 yards. Leicester wouldn’t mind a goal, you know. They’re not settling for 0-0.
75 min: Mahrez runs at Augustinsson, pushing him back into the area, and the Copenhagen man goes to ground and almost concedes a penalty with a desperate lunge. Mahrez stays on his feet, though, stumbles and can’t stop the ball from running out of play. He thinks he’s getting a corner, but Augustinsson actually made no contact with the ball. There’s an argument for giving a penalty there, given that Mahrez was impeded and lost his momentum.
73 min: Porto are still beating Club Brugge 1-0. Copenhagen really could do with a goal. A point will suit Leicester, although they’ll still have a bit more to do in order to reach the last 16.
72 min: Delaney has a pop from the edge of the area. It hits Huth and Copenhagen scream for handball and a penalty. Nothing doing.
71 min: Shinji Okazaki replaces Schlupp. Musa will move to the left.
70 min: Copenhagen threaten down the left again, where Hernandez is struggling badly, and Augustinsson bursts to the byline before firing a low ball into the six-yard box. Schmeichel can’t gather it, the ball squirming under him after a touch from Verbic, and Fuchs has to clear off the line.
67 min: Toutouh makes an instant impact with a dash down the left and a cross into the middle that causes chaos in the Leicester defence. The ball runs to the unmarked Verbic, but he blazes wildly over the bar. An escape for Leicester. Some of the shooting in this game has been awful.
65 min: Copenhagen make the first change of the night, Rasmus Falk replaced by Youssef Toutouh.
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63 min: A misjudgement from Johansson presents the ball to Mahrez, who has an opportunity to play Vardy through on goal. He delays the pass though, perhaps reasoning that Vardy hasn’t scored since 1872, and then messes it up when he does decide to release the ball. That’s poor. Still, the ball reaches Musa on the left. He shoots, but it hits Vardy, who’s offside.
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61 min: Not from this one, though.
60 min: Up the other end, Vardy does well to win a corner for Leicester on the right. Any goal might well come from a set-piece.
59 min: Copenhagen keep the ball on the floor for once and Kvist fires a pass into Santander’s feet in the area. He holds it up, then lays it off to Ankersen, who batters a shot over.
58 min: Mahrez schemes on the right, swaying this way and that, and finds Drinkwater on the overlap. His low ball rolls all the way across the face of goal, no one there to apply the finishing touch.
57 min: Will either goalkeeper have to make a meaningful save?
54 min: Amartey drills a shot miles wide from 25 yards. Pointless.
52 min: Cornelius works the ball on to his right foot on the area. He digs out a shot which hits Fuchs. Corner.
51 min: Augustinsson flings another cross into the area. Santander is hanging around, but it’s headed away as far as Ankersen. Fuchs makes a fine block to stop his shot from troubling Schmeichel.
50 min: This is scrappy.
48 min: I can’t stop marvelling at Robbie Savage’s face in that press conference. Has a man ever wanted to be somewhere less than Savage did there?
46 min: Off we go again. Leicester get the second half underway.
HALF-TIME ENTERTAINMENT
Just look at Robbie Savage’s face in that press conference.
Half-time: FC Copenhagen 0-0 Leicester City
That half was not of the highest quality.
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45 min: There will be one minute of stoppage time.
44 min: Vardy wriggles into a rare pocket of space on the edge of the Copenhagen area, but his shot is blocked. It comes to Amartey, whose shot is dreadful.
42 min: Elsewhere in Group G, it’s now Porto 1-0 Club Brugge. That’s bad news for FC Copenhagen in the race for second place. Meanwhile Hernandez has been booked after being penalised for a needless barge near the right touchline.
40 min: Leicester exert some rare pressure. But there’s no conviction.
38 min: I’ve just gone five minutes without saying anything. Delaney lashes a shot wide from the edge of the area.
33 min: Drinkwater pops a ball over the top for Vardy to chase. He starts to sprint, but Olsen reads the danger and is quickly out of his area. He gets away with a slight miskick, the loose ball running to a team-mate. But Leicester quickly run it back. Schlupp drives inside from the left and decides he might as well have a short, given the lack of support. Olsen isn’t troubled.
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31 min: Mahrez, Musa and Vardy have contributed the square root of eff all.
29 min: A corner to Copenhagen on the right. It’s headed away, but the Danes are so good at keeping it alive. Back it comes again. Huth manages to hook clear inside the six-yard box. Back it comes again. Until Santander wonks a volley over. Leicester breathe again.
28 min: Leicester are begging to concede a pathetic goal here.
25 min: From the resulting free-kick, Ankersen tries to score from 35 yards. Never do that again, Peter Ankersen.
24 min: Leicester are looking increasingly shaky in almost every department. Huth lets a seemingly innocuous ball skid past him in the middle of Leicester’s half and Santander gets a run on Morgan, who’s away with the fairies. Huth responds in the only way he knows how, scything Santander down. It’s only a yellow card. Morgan was sort of covering.
23 min: From Ankersen’s corner on the right, Cornelius rises highest, but heads wide. Leicester’s defenders argue amongst themselves for a few moments. They’re not in this game.
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22 min: Drinkwater sloppily loses possession again, dawdling and failing to realise that Cornelius was lurking behind him on the halfway line. Cornelius hurtles off with the ball and Drinkwater cynically brings him down, picking up a booking.
19 min: Leicester are struggling when Copenhagen press them in their half. This is just like watching Manchester City v Barcelona.
18 min: Leicester are shown the danger of trying to pass the ball around when Wes Morgan does his best Sergi Roberto impression, presenting the ball straight to Santander. The Copenhagen attacker can’t take advantage of the situation, though, dribbling away from goal before wastefully scuffing straight at Schmeichel from a tight angle.
15 min: Copenhagen continue to press after that chance for Verbic and space opens up for Kvist outside the Leicester area. His firm drive fizzes wide, though.
14 min: Delaney knocks a ball down the line for Verbic to chase, Amartey dozing. He reaches it, dribbles into the area, past Amartey and on to his right foot. Morgan throws his body in the way of the shot, though.
12 min: Verbic dribbles cleverly and dangerously through the middle – where’s Kante when you need him – and feeds Augustinsson on the left. He hoicks another high cross towards the far post. Santander rises and heads it back across goal, but it drifts over Cornelius’s head and behind for a goal-kick.
11 min: This is attritional.
9 min: Fuchs hurls a long throw into the Copenhagen area. It’s headed out as far as Drinkwater, whose shot takes a deflection and spins off for a corner on the right. But the delivery from Mahrez is poor.
8 min: Leicester are settling down now.
6 min: Leicester try to slow things down for a while, enjoying a handy spot of possession. Copenhagen are working hard to close them down, though, and the move goes nowhere.
4 min: The Danes have made an excellent start here. Delaney pumps another high cross into the area, this time from left to right. After a spot of head tennis, the ball drops to Ankersen, whose volley hits a Leicester defender.
3 min: Schmeichel commands his area and punches the corner away convincingly. Leicester try to break but Musa miscontrols the ball.
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2 min: On BT Sport, Steve McManaman reckons that the pitch is quite cut up. They’ve held a few concerts at this stadium recently and it seems to have had an adverse effect. That might not bother Copenhagen, though, given their direct style. They lob another high ball into the area. Huth puts it behind for a corner. He had to intervene - Santander was lurking.
And we’re off! Copenhagen, all in white, get the game underway. They’re kicking from right to left and immediately go long, forcing Wes Morgan to clear. Leicester are in blue.
Here come the teams! It’s time for the Champions League anthem, which never fails to bring a tear to the eye.
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Claudio Ranieri speaks. “We know Copenhagen is a very good and organised team but we are ready to try and beat them. The match against Tottenham gave us a lot of confidence. We know today we have to suffer because they are desperate to beat us but we are ready.”
The good news for Leicester is that Ahmed Musa is fit to start despite injuring himself when he hurt himself scoring the equaliser against Tottenham on Saturday. The Nigerian played on the left in that game, but he’s starting through the middle tonight, with Shinji Okazaki dropping to the bench and Islam Slimani unavailable because of a groin problem. In midfield, meanwhile, Daniel Amartey is in for Andy King in the centre and Jeffrey Schlupp starts on the left. Luis Hernandez also replaces Danny Simpson at right-back.
The teams!
FC Copenhagen: Olsen; Ankersen, Jorgensen, Johansson, Augustinsson; Falk, Delaney, Kvist, Verbic; Cornelius, Santander. Subs: Andersen, Hogli, Antonsson, Gregus, Kusk, Pavlovic, Toutouh.
Leicester City: Schmeichel; Hernandez, Morgan, Huth, Fuchs; Mahrez, Drinkwater, Amartey, Schlupp; Musa, Vardy. Subs: Zieler, King, Simpson, Ulloa, Okazaki, Albrighton, Gray.
Referee: Felix Brych (Germany).
Preamble
Hello. Piece of cake, this Champions League business. What’s the fuss all about? Leicester City have taken to it like a tabloid editor to a xenophobic front page. Making their debut appearance in what’s supposed to be Europe’s toughest competition, or so says the marketing speak, the Premier League champions have made it look like a doddle so far and will qualify for the last 16 with two games to spare if they win in Denmark tonight. Their domestic form might have slipped, but Leicester continue to find ways to astound us. It’s easy to be cynical these days. Come on, though. They’re pretty great, aren’t they? You might as well accept it – Robert Huth will have Leo Messi in his pocket when Leicester play Barcelona in the final. Andy King will show Andres Iniesta what’s up. Get used to it.
But let’s not get carried away yet. Leicester have won their first three matches in Group G without conceding a goal, but they’re in for a tough match tonight. FC Copenhagen, who are second despite lying five points behind Claudio Ranieri’s side, are formidable at home, where they are unbeaten in 28 games in all competitions. There’ll be no complacency from Leicester, who are expecting a physical game against the Danish champions. True, they ended Copenhagen’s 27-game unbeaten run at the King Power Stadium two weeks ago, Riyad Mahrez doing what he hasn’t been doing much of in the league this season and scoring the only goal, but that was one tough game, with Kasper Schmeichel required to make an astonishing save near the end. Schmeichel might have to be similarly inspired tonight. Then again, maybe not. It’s Leicester. It’s Europe. They’ve got this covered.
Kick-off: 7.45pm GMT.
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