Sports Round-Up: Celtic coming to Denmark again for Champions League bash

Elsewhere, Denmark’s 100m mark broken, Barcelona eye Under-21 coach and Aalborg miss out on handball glory

Jun 16, 2021

UEFA hosted the draw for the European leagues today and it ended up being a decent day for the Danish teams participating in Europe this coming season.

The day started out with FC Midtjylland drawing Scottish giants Celtic in the second qualification round of the Champions League.

The first game will be played in Glasgow on July 20-21, while the return leg will take place in Herning a week later.

Lions going to Belarus
Brøndby is the other Danish team in the Champions League qualifiers, but they won’t enter the tournament until the playoff round.

In the new Conference League, FC Copenhagen and AGF Aarhus also got their opponents for the second qualification phase.

FCK will take on FC Torpedo-Belaz Zhodino from Belarus, while AGF will face either Bala Town FC from Wales or Larne FC from Northern Ireland.

Aalborg miss out on making history
Aalborg missed out on becoming the first Danish team to win the handball Champions League when they lost to Barcelona in the final. Already a sensation for reaching the final, the Danes were crushed by the Spanish giants 23-36. It was Barcelona’s tenth CL title since 1991. The last time a Danish team was in a CL final was way back in 1976, when Fredericia KFUM also finished second best. Danish star Mikkel Hansen is set to join Aalborg next year from Paris St Germain.

100m mark broken
Kojo Musah is the new holder of the Danish men’s 100m mark after running a blistering time of 10.17 seconds in a track meet in the Czech Republic. The previous record of 10.26 was set by Kristoffer Hari two years ago. Earlier this year, Musah also set a new Danish record in the 60m. To automatically qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, Musah needs to run a 10.05, though he can qualify via ranking points.

Women’s 100m relay set new record
The Danisn women’s 100m relay team set a new national record at a meet in Geneva with a time of 43.71 seconds. The previous record stood at 43.90 second. Emma Beiter Bomme, Astrid Glenner-Frandsen, Mathilde Kramer and Mette Graversgaard had already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in May. The men’s 100m relay team will also be participating in Tokyo.

Barca eyes Under-21 boss
News has emerged that Barcelona is looking into possibly signing Denmark’s Under-21 coach Albert Capellas. According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Capellas has met with the Spanish giants in regards to a possible coaching role in the club. From 1999-2003, he was an assistant on Barcelona’s B team. Capellas has enjoyed a very successful spell as Denmark’s under-21 coach and recently extended his contact until 2023.

FCK season ticket sales soar
Following a year of limited fan presence due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FC Copenhagen has reported a record number of season ticket holders for the coming season. With about a month before the season starts over 14,500 fans have secured season tickets, considerably higher than the previous record of about 12,700. The club plans to usher in a new fan village experience for fans this coming season.

Danish Zidan going to Germany
FC Nordsjælland has revealed that it has sold bright starlet Zidan Sertdemir to Bundesliage side Bayer Leverkusen. The 16-year-old Danish central midfielder with Turkish roots has inked a three-year deal with the Germans. Sertdemir, who has several youth caps for Denmark, joined FCN from Brøndby back in 2012.

AGF gets Premier League pedigree
AGF Aarhus announced that they will bring in Dave Reddington as an assistant coach this coming season. Reddington has spent time as first team coach with Crystal Palace under former England and FC Copenhagen manager Roy Hodgson. He has also been in coaching positions with Watford.