14 Years On: Chelsea and Copenhagen’s last battle
This coming Thursday (6 Mar), Chelsea will travel to Copenhagen for the First Leg of their UEFA Conference League Last 16 tie.
Believe it or not, these sides have met a lot recently than you may remember. Here is a look back at the last time the two collided.
The Background
It is the 17th December 2010, and Europe is beset by heavy snowfall. Meanwhile, the eyes of the footballing world are set on UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, as the Champions League Last 16 ties are drawn.
Some of the names make the eye sparkle: Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Bayern Munich, Manchester United. Among the fancied teams are Chelsea, who are 4th in the Premier League and right on the heels of United, Arsenal and Manchester City.
They are the English champions, after all: Carlo Ancelotti’s first full season resulting in a double of the Premier League and the FA Cup.
However, European success eluded them in the most painful circumstance: José Mourinho knocks his former team out with the team he left them to join, Inter Milan.
To compound matters, Internazionale go all the way to the Champions League title. After a near-decade of success, the one thing that has not been captured is the sainted trophy.
They glide through a Champions League group consisting of Marseille, Spartak Moscow and Slovak debutants MŠK Žilina. Among the potential opponents in the first knockout phase are Lyon, Valencia, Roma and AC Milan.
But there’s one opponent everyone is hoping to draw. Copenhagen were by far the most successful Danish team of the 2000s, claiming seven domestic league crowns and two cup victories.
They had one appearance in the Group Stages to show for it, drawn in the infamous ‘Battle of Britain’ with Man United and Celtic, alongside Benfica, in 2006.
Following several years of near-misses, 2010-11 gave the perfect opportunity for success. After beating BATE Borisov and Scandinavian rivals Rosenborg in the qualifiers, being drawn alongside Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona must have been a cause for concern.
However, the other two teams – Olympiacos and Rubin Kazan – were roughly of the same European pedigree as the Byens Hold. Sure enough, two wins over the Greeks and one over Kazan saw Copenhagen sneak through in second-place: uncharted territory for Ståle Solbakken and his team.
This was a Copenhagen team with equal parts guile and flair: Danish mainstays William Kvist and Hjalte Nørregaard were partnered by the fox in the box Dame N’Doye. Also present: Christian Bolaños, Kenneth Zohore, Brazilian duo Claudemir and Santin, and former Chelsea star Jesper Grønkjær.
As for Chelsea, much of the team that were synonymous with their rise; Lampard, Terry, Drogba, Čech, Cole, Essien, Mikel – were present and correct, accompanied by the likes of Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou and Nicolas Anelka.
Branislav Ivanovic and Jose Bosingwa provided the defence, and the pairing of Ramires and Yuri Zhirkov rounded off the side. And so, when the draw took place, the Londoners and the Danes were pitted together; they had also played in the 1998 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.
In fact, Chelsea’s first appearance in Europe was against a Copenhagen XI – all the way back in 1958 in the Inter-Cities Fairs’ Cup.
The Matches
Chelsea went into the tie badly needing form, following a surprise FA Cup exit to Everton.
Due to how the Danish season worked, Copenhagen had not played a competitive match since beating Panathinaikos the previous December.
The First Leg was played in temperatures of around –5°C, and Chelsea ran out comfortable winners thanks to a brace from Nicolas Anelka: it was Copenhagen’s first ever home defeat in the Champions League.
Much of the Second Leg was dominated by the ongoing misfortune of Fernando Torres: after his dramatic £50 million move from Liverpool, he was yet to score in his first five starts for The Blues.
Ultimately, the game at Stamford Bridge finished goalless, with Chelsea missing an array of opportunities and Copenhagen restricted to an N’Doye free-kick which hit the woodwork.
It was on to the last eight for Ancelotti’s side, where they would face a formidable rival in Alex Ferguson and Man United.
What Happened Next?
Alas, United beat Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate to advance to the Semis, and duly lost the Final at Wembley to the same Barcelona side Copenhagen had played in their Group.
Still, they rallied to second in the Premier League, and within a year of their Quarter-Final defeat would finally win the biggest prize of them all in 2012.
Copenhagen ended up as overwhelming champions of the Superliga, 26 points clear of second-placed OB Odense.
Subsequent appearances in the Group Stages of Europe’s premier competition came in 2013 and 2016, but it was not until 2023 where they finally reached the knockouts once more.
Unfortunately, another English team in blue was waiting for them: defending champions Man City promptly knocked them out 6-2 on aggregate.
Ståle Solbakken left that May to join Bundesliga outfit Köln, and duly ended up sacked by the following April as the side suffered relegation; a feat he repeated at his next job with Wolves, leaving halfway through their League One demotion.
Fortunately, happier times were ahead for the Norwegian: in August 2013, Copenhagen rehired the ailing manager, and he went on to claim three titles in seven years before leaving for the Norway national team job.
Many of the Copenhagen side went on to play in England; Kvist had spells at Fulham and Wigan, Zohore at Cardiff and West Brom, Matthias Jørgensen at Huddersfield, and Bryan Oviedo at Everton.
Going one further, Dutch defender Jos Hooiveld ended up with Southampton the same year, before times with Norwich and Millwall later.
So, with the two meeting once again on Thursday, Copenhagen will be hoping to make new memories of finally beating The Blues.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will hope that the city of Hans Christian Andersen does not leave them with nightmares...