Football Season Guide

Denmark’s record champions Copenhagen never found enough composure last season and had to settle only for the bronze medals. After back-to-back titles Copenhagen found it hard to balance a deep run in Europe with the domestic stage. They had 9 defeats in 32 rounds and never really got proper involved in the title race. Coach Neestrup will be under pressure to deliver much better campaign now. In the off-season the manager had to replace his main goalie Kamil Grabara who was sold in Germany. Nathan Trott, starting goalkeeper for Vejle last term, was bought as his replacement. He’s a promising talent but not yet as developed and solid as Grabara was. Davit Khocholava was the other notable player to leave. He retired, after hardly playing in the last 2 years due to injuries this was expected. Copenhagen already found their replacement. Munashe Garananga comes from Belgium and he’s expected to become the new main partner for Denis Vavro in the heart of the defence. Elias Achouri was the league’s Assists’ King last term. Teenager Roony Bardghji also had an excellent season. If both remain in the squad Copenhagen should get even better contributions from these electric wingers. The absence of a reliable goalscorer up front continues. In many games last term captain Viktor Claesson or Mohamed Elyounoussi had to operate as a false nine. This might have to be happening often again. Copenhagen have 5 typical centre forwards on their books but none of them played much or scored more than 5 goals last season. In fact, during the 2023-24 campaign Copenhagen had no player that scored more than 9 league goals. This was the first time since 1992 the Lions didn’t have a player in double digits for goals in an entire season. Youngster Orri Óskarsson showed some flashes of brilliance late in the season. Could he become Copenhagen’s go-to-man this campaign?