When Manchester City triumphed in the Champions League on Tuesday, they broke yet another amazing record.
In the first leg of their last-16 match in Denmark, Pep Guardiola’s team trounced FC Copenhagen 3-1, solidifying their position as strong favorites to advance to the quarterfinals for the seventh straight year.
After recovering from an injury, Kevin De Bruyne has been playing well, and he gave City the early lead with a cool shot into the bottom left corner.
Magnus Mattsson’s counterattack after an Ederson error gave the home team an equalizer, but shortly before halftime, Bernardo Silva curled in a brilliant finish to give City the lead again.
When Phil Foden tucked home De Bruyne’s cut-back in injury time, he sealed the victory and made sure City set a new record.
As of right moment, City has the greatest winning streak of any English team in the history of the competition, having won nine straight games in the Champions League.
When Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team won seven straight games in 2021–2022, they broke the previous record for an English club.
To tie Bayern Munich’s record of 15 straight Champions League wins, which was set in 2020, City must win their next six games.
Following the victory in Copenhagen, Guardiola was eager to emphasize how important the win was for his team.
“I am aware of the challenges. People think it’s simple. Ask Bayern and United. It’s a really formidable foe,” he remarked.
“Today, we created flawless thoughts. It’s my responsibility to alert the players to their characteristics. We acted patiently and with personality and character.
“Everyone was operating at maximum capacity. It’s a solid outcome, but not conclusive. I hope we can get to the quarterfinals.
“Copenhagen is incredibly small. With these kinds of games, you can anticipate the parts where you lose. With the crowd in the background, slow things down at this amazing stadium.
“The stadium collapses. The gaps in the upcoming leg must be located. I witnessed how challenging the United games were for them.”
When City hosts Copenhagen for the second leg on March 6, they hope to make it ten wins in a row.