UEFA Champions League – Half time report: FC Copenhagen versus FC Rubin Kazan
Group D’s first of the simultaneous encounters of the night took place between Copenhagen F.C and Rubin Kazan. Both of the teams are not particularly renowned for their European Cup pedigree but in recent years after having pulled off one or two upsets, both the minnows have been under focus as far as European powers in the UEFA Champions League are concerned.
Copenhagen and Rubin Kazan are a part of group D, a group which contains the likes of Barcelona from Spain and Panathinaikos from Greece. Copenhagen started the match with several noticeable stars in their line up, for example, Jesper Grønkjær an ex-Chelsea player played for the Danish champions at the right wing berth. Up front, they banked their hopes on N'Doye and Santin, both known for their fantastic ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis as far as the Danish football league is concerned.
Rubin Kazan on the other hand, featured in the last season’s UEFA Champions League during which they defeated the mighty Barcelona at the Nou Camp and managed to earn a draw in the return leg in last year’s group stages of the competition. Rubin started with their star summer signing, Obafemi Martins upfront. The striker has a lot of European Cup experience from his days with Inter Milan earlier on in his career. Later on, the Nigerian marksman moved to the English Premier League, where he plied his trade for the Tyneside club, Newcastle United.
Copenhagen, participated in the 2006-2007 version of the UEFA Champions League, during which they bested Manchester United and Celtic at their home ground, therefore it was expected that the Danish champions will be strong if not concrete at home.
Rubin Kazan were on the front foot right from the start of the match as their striker Christian Noboa was played in by his team mate, Carlos Eduardo in only the 4th minute of the match. Christian’s shot was deflected over the bar as Rubin Kazan got their first corner of the match. From the ensuing corner in the 5thminute of the match, Rafal Marawski tried his luck on Copenhagen’s goal with a volley but it was an easy save for J. Wiland.
In the 8th minute, Martin Vingaard had the first shot of the night for Copenhagen but his effort was a forgettable one as the ball was way of its intended target i.e. the Rubin Kazan goal. In the 13th minute, Copenhagen had their first proper free kick of the half but even though Mikael Antonsson got a flick on, the final ball was comfortably dealt with by the Rubin Kazan goalkeeper. William Kvist was Copenhagen’s stand out player on the night, the Danish champion’s captain was like a hungry bull dog in midfield and came out on top in every tackle he committed too.
In the 27th minute of the first half, Copenhagen again pushed forward this time their winger Oscar Wendt played in a tantalizing cross which was almost met by N’Doye. If the striker had made contact it surely would’ve resulted in Copenhagen’s first goal of the night but as luck would have it, the ball just missed the Danish striker’s foot.
For the rest of the match, Copenhagen tried to push forward and impose themselves on the game. They were helped by the fact that the home crowd ushered them on as the 12th man in the game but there was a dearth of quality in the middle of the park as both the teams failed to create any goal scoring opportunities.
At the half time whistle, the score line was stagnant at 0-0. This situation favoured the visitors Rubin Kazan more than the home side Copenhagen, as Kazan would surely fancy themselves in the return leg of the encounter.
Tags: