Copenhagen and Leverkusen share wild 2-2 draw in Champions League thriller
COPENHAGEN, Denmark – FC Copenhagen and Bayer Leverkusen played out a crazy 2-2 draw on Wednesday night in their Champions League opener, with three goals coming in the final 10 minutes to leave both sides with mixed feelings.
The Danish side got off to a dream start when Jordan Larsson fired them ahead after just nine minutes. Elias Achouri did well to cut the ball back from the byline and Larsson was there to smash it past Mark Flekken from close range. For a Copenhagen team that’s only scored 34 goals in 40 previous Champions League games, it was exactly the kind of start they needed.
Leverkusen tried to hit back quickly with Alejandro Grimaldo going close from a free-kick that just went over the bar. The German side has had a tough start to the season with Erik ten Hag getting fired after only three games, and things nearly got worse when Youssoufa Moukoko almost made it 2-0 just before halftime. Lukas Lerager played a nice ball across but Moukoko’s shot from point-blank range hit Flekken’s shoulder.
The second half was pretty dull with both teams struggling to create much. New Leverkusen manager Kasper Hjulmand was back in Denmark for his first Champions League game since 2012/13 but he wouldn’t of been happy with what he saw. Ben Seghir did hit the post for the visitors just after the hour mark but that was about it for clear chances.
Copenhagen looked like they was going to hold on for a famous win until the final 10 minutes turned everything upside down. First Grimaldo curled in a brilliant free-kick from 25 yards that flew into the top corner to make it 1-1. But the home fans didn’t have time to get worried because Robert Silva headed them back in front almost straight away.
Just when it looked like Copenhagen had done enough, disaster struck in the dying moments. Claudio Echeverri’s cross from the right deflected off defender Pantelis Chatzidiakos and wrong-footed the keeper to make it 2-2. The home crowd couldn’t believe it.
The result means Copenhagen still haven’t beaten a German team in 14 tries in European competition, while Leverkusen will feel lucky to escape with a point after a poor performance. Both teams will need to improve if they want to make it through the league phase but at least they’ve got something on the board now.