FC Copenhagen hosted Inter Turku in the 2nd leg of the UEFA Conference League qualifying match, winning 4-1 to progress to the group stage.
FCK played with a 1-4-2-3-1 formation, with central midfielder Alex Král playing on the right wing. While Inter took advantage of this situation, winning the ball twice with Král inside, FCK exploited the asymmetry in Inter Turku’s defensive block and found the attacking midfielder free on a few occasions.
FCK had the match momentum, with 21 vs 5 shots, 8 vs 2 shots on target and 37 vs 7 touches in the opposition box. The statistic with the biggest difference was aerial duels – FCK winning 70% of the aerial duels (26) vs Inter Turku’s 30% (11), with Andreas Cornelius dominating in the air, winning 7 out of 7 duels. He was fundamental in bringing the ball down to his teammates.
Both teams pressed the opponent very high, but FCK had more success. By forcing the Inter Turku keeper into a long ball, Copenhagen’s centre-backs were dominant in the air. Furthermore, Inter had low full backs, which resulted in Copenhagen always having an extra player in midfield to recover the 2nd ball.
FCK scored their 1st goal from a set piece via a header from Gabriel Pereira.
After the break, FCK moved the ball vertically and faster, resulting in 4v4 situations where they scored their 2nd and 4th goals. For the 3rd goal, the verticality of Inter’s build-up created vulnerability in the transition, which Copenhagen exploited with numbers streaming forward and a long shot. Inter scored a penalty in the 69th minute via a handball situation to make the score 2-1, but at that stage, there was very little evidence of a comeback from the Finnish side.
Standout player:
Diant Ramaj, GK, 2001, FCK
The Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper played accurate long balls to Andreas Cornelius. There was one moment when he threaded a 50-metre pass in behind, showing world-class potential but there were other types of long balls that were 2-3 meters off target. He covered the goal well and it was difficult to comment on his shot-saving ability with Inter only having 2 shots on target. He seemed unconvincing in the crossing situation, struggling to move across goal and barely getting a punch on the ball.
Potential – La Liga low table team with a big man and CBs good at aerial duels when defending crosses.
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