Sabasports Match Preview
Champions League: FC Copenhagen vs Malmo FF
Kickoff Time: 2025-08-13 01:00 (HKT)
Source: REUTERS/THIAGO BERNARDES
FC Copenhagen is the 2024–25 Danish Superliga champions. This season, they started from the second round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage, beating the Kosovo league giants Drita to advance to the third round. In the first leg, despite playing away, the team had a strong hold on the game, with 11 shot attempts on target, while the home team Malmo FF only managed a meager four shot attempts. Last week’s league match saw the team rotate half their starting XI, intentionally saving energy for this game. Players such as Peruvian international full-back Marcos López, Danish international midfielder Thomas Delaney, Norwegian international number 10 player Mohamed Elyounoussi, Tunisian international winger Elias Achouri, and Danish international striker Andreas Cornelius did not start. From the summer transfer window, Copenhagen has signed several young talents, including Youssoufa Moukoko from Borussia Dortmund and Yoram Zague from Paris Saint-Germain, indicating that the team has great potential.
Malmo FF are the 2024–25 Swedish Allsvenskan champions. This season, they started from the first round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying stage, defeating the Georgian league champions Iberia 1999 and the Latvian league champions RFS. In the first leg, although Malmo had an active attack, they actually had zero dangerous shot on attempts, and even failed to register a single shot on target. During the match, Montenegrin international Sead Haksabanovic coordinated the play and distributed the ball effectively, but the dense defense from Copenhagen made it extremely difficult to play short passes. As a result, the team changed tactics and tried to win through high balls, but Copenhagen’s center-back Munashe Garananga successfully defended 91% of aerial balls, almost controlling the entire penalty area. For Malmo to break the deadlock, they must be more proactive in their approach. Unfortunately, their manager Henrik Rydstrom is not known as a tactical master.
From the perspective of physical preparation, the Danish Superliga is still in the early stages of the season, while the Swedish Allsvenskan is in the mid-to-late phase. Therefore, Copenhagen has the advantage. In terms of player resources, Copenhagen spent 16.7 million euros in the summer transfer window, while Malmo only spent 2.8 million euros. The gap in quality between the two teams is clear. Malmo, who are already struggling at home, will likely face another defeat when playing away.
FC Copenhagen’s Last 5 Games: LDWWW
25-08-09 FC Copenhagen 2-3 AGF
25-08-06 Malmo FF 0-0 FC Copenhagen
25-08-02 Fredericia 0-2 FC Copenhagen
25-07-30 Drita 0-1 FC Copenhagen
25-07-27 FC Copenhagen 2-0 Vejle Boldklub
Malmo FF’s Last 5 Games: LDWWW
25-08-09 Malmo FF 1-3 Mjaellby
25-08-06 Malmo FF 0-0 FC Copenhagen
25-07-31 Malmo FF 1-0 RFS
25-07-26 Brommapojkarna 2-3 Malmo FF
25-07-23 RFS 1-4 Malmo FF
Head-To-Head Record
25-08-06 Malmo FF 0-0 FC Copenhagen
19-12-13 FC Copenhagen 0-1 Malmo FF
19-10-04 Malmo FF 1-1 FC Copenhagen
Prediction: FC Copenhagen to win