Manchester City fans on social media have expressed their displeasure with Jack Grealish being named in the starting line-up for the club’s match against Copenhagen.
The Citizens will take on the Danish outfit at the Parken Stadium in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 encounter on Tuesday, February 13. With less than an hour to go, they named a fairly strong line-up, with Grealish receiving the nod ahead of Julian Alvarez and Jeremy Doku.
The Englishman has endured a difficult campaign so far, recording just three goals and two assists in 25 matches across competitions. However, it’s worth noting that he has started each of Manchester City’s final five Champions League group-stage fixtures.
Regardless, fans of the club didn’t seem too happy with his inclusion in the starting XI. One of them wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
“Grealish on? TV off”
Another fan tweeted:
“Grealish is starting. What have I done to deserve this??????”
Meanwhile, one fan opined that Grealish needs to have a good game, tweeting:
“Grealish needs to show himself now”
Here are some more reactions from fans:
Here is Manchester City’s complete line-up for their match against Copenhagen:
Ederson; Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Kyle Walker; Bernardo Silva, Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne; Jack Grealish, Erling Haaland, Phil Foden.
A look at Manchester City’s and Copenhagen’s journey so far in the 2023-24 Champions League
Manchester City have enjoyed a fairly straightforward campaign so far in this season’s UEFA Champions League. The Citizens won all six of their group-stage matches, scoring 18 goals and conceding seven.
City began their title defense by beating Red Star Belgrade 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium before toppling RB Leipzig by the same margin away from home. They won 3-1 again at BSC Young Boys in their next game, before beating the Swiss outfit 3-0 at the Etihad on Matchday 4.
Pep Guardiola’s side then beat Leipzig 3-2 at home before ending the group stages by defeating Red Star by the same margin in Serbia.
Copenhagen, meanwhile, have enjoyed a fairytale run to reach the knockouts, having began their campaign in the qualifiers. They beat Breioablik 8-3 on aggregate and Sparta Praha 4-2 on penalties (3-3 on aggregate) in the second and third qualifying rounds respectively.
The Danish outfit then saw off Rakow Czestochowa 2-1 in the playoff round to make it into the group stage.
Few would have expected them to make the knockouts after being placed in a group with Bayern Munich, Manchester United and Galatasaray. Copenhagen began their group-stage campaign with a 2-2 draw with the Turkish outfit before losing 2-1 to Bayern at home and 1-0 to United at Old Trafford.
However, they beat the Red Devils 4-3 in the reverse fixture and drew 0-0 with the Bavarians in Germany to give themselves a chance. A 1-0 home victory over Galatasaray on Matchday 6 saw them make it into the Champions League‘s Round of 16 as runners-up behind Bayern.
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