Champions League, Qualification, 2nd Round, Second Leg, Tuesday, 29.07.2025 at 20:00
The Champions League group stage is the goal for FC Copenhagen, no ifs, ands, or buts. The Danish top club already has one foot in the third qualifying round, but still needs to get through the second leg.
The trip to Kosovo shouldn’t pose any problems – at least I can’t imagine anything going wrong. In my Drita FC Copenhagen tip, I’ll therefore reveal why I’m taking a cautious approach here and prefer the “Double Chance X2” bet with under 3.5 goals.
Anyone who reached the round of 16 in 2024/25 and scored in both games (1-3 in each) against Manchester City would naturally want to play in the Champions League group stage again this season! FC Copenhagen has clearly set its goals.
The Danish top club started their qualifying campaign in the second round, drawing Drita as their opponent. The roles of favorite and underdog were immediately clear. In the first leg, FCK showed that they were aiming for the preliminary round.
They won 2-0, but we need to take a closer look at the game. On the one hand, because the result was luckier than initially expected: both goals were scored from the penalty spot.
Magnus Mattsson proved to have nerves of steel, scoring twice from eleven meters out. However, with 16 shots and 66 percent possession, there is probably no doubt that the victory was well deserved.
Copenhagen started the new national season in mid-July. This should not be overlooked, as it means that the team has already established a certain rhythm. The results: 3-2 against Viborg and 2-0 against Velje.
Magnus Mattsson, mentioned above, also proved to be a reliable penalty taker in the Allsvenskan, so FC Copenhagen can count on his nerves of steel.
Is it even realistic that they could be eliminated in the second qualifying round? The last time that happened was in 2004/05. However, it should be added that Copenhagen almost always started the qualifiers later.
If we look at our bookmakers together, we will see that it is actually impossible for anything to go wrong in terms of qualifying. As for Tuesday’s victory, we are being offered average odds of 1.40 to 6.80.
Of course, it’s clear that the Danes could also lose if they concede a goal. The odds for qualifying for round 3 are correspondingly cautious, with odds of 1.01 to 12.5.
KF Drita, I need to take a quick look at the geography here, is a club from Gjilan, a city in Kosovo. As you can probably guess, the team has not had many notable appearances in Europe.
Drita already tried to qualify for the highest international competition in 2018/19 and 2020/21, but their journeys came to an early end. The second qualifying round is currently their greatest success anyway.
However, Drita has earned this second round. The qualifying campaign began against Differdange, and the Kosovan club made short work of their opponents, leaving no room for doubt.
1:0 and 3:2, both games were won narrowly. Arb Manaj scored three of the four goals, with the star striker only failing to shine against Copenhagen. Incidentally, I can’t give you any insights into the national results, as the league in Kosovo doesn’t start until mid-August.
As difficult as it will be for Drita to overturn the 0:2 deficit, there is motivation. If they make it to the third qualifying round, they will secure a place in the Europa League.
Drita against Copenhagen – even before the second leg, it sounds like a clear-cut situation. The Danes have taken a nice 2-0 lead, but I would also like to point out that they didn’t score a single goal from open play.
Now they can afford to sit back and wait, because if Drita takes the lead, a 0-1 win would still be enough to advance. Nevertheless, I can’t imagine that the visitors will throw everything away and allow themselves to lose here.
That’s why I’ve already decided on the “Double Chance X2.” How many goals will be scored? Since Copenhagen was “only” successful from the penalty spot in the first leg and Drita’s offense hardly came into play, my prediction is:
Copenhagen will not lose with under 3.5 goals!
