These two teams have qualified for the Europa League by virtue of failing in the Champions League. Neither of them are expected to pull up any trees in the competition but will be hopeful of coming through this first knockout round in order to get a big draw in the last 16.
The Bulgarian league has already played one round of matches after their long winter break but you would still think that home side Ludogorets will be lacking match practice going into this Europa League tie.
Georgi Dermendzhiev’s team dominate the Bulgaria league and are currently seven points clear of closest challengers Levski Sofia at the top of the league. Unsurprisingly, the current Bulgarian champions lead the charts in both home and away form as well as ‘Goals Scored’ with a very impressive 50 in just 19 matches. However, they can be a bit dodgy at the back and only have the third-best defensive record in the Bulgarian league whilst they also conceded an alarming 15 goals in this season’s Champions League group stage.
Home form has actually been pretty good for Ludogorets in the Europa League over the years and, out of the five games they have played at home in the competition, they have only lost once.
Much like Ludogorets in Bulgaria, Copenhagen are dominating their domestic league. However, they are also coming off the back of a long winter break and, unlike Ludogorets, are still yet to resume for the spring half of their season.
Stale Solbankken’s side are sublime at the back and have conceded just eight goals in 21 Danish Superliga games so far this campaign. Perhaps what is more impressive though is that they only conceded twice in their six Champions League group stage matches – joint best with Atletico Madrid and Juventus.
Unfortunately, the Lions seem to be unable to replicate their great performance in the final third in domestic football into European competition and they scored just seven goals in the Champions League group stages this season. This poor return up front meant Copenhagen drew too many matches which ultimately cost them their place in Europe’s premier competition.
I think this first leg will be incredibly tight and I doubt we will see a thrilling spectacle. The away side will be really happy with a clean sheet whilst Ludogorets will not want to be exposed by what can be an excellent Copenhagen attack. With a cagey opening likely, ‘0-0 at Half Time’ is a good bet here.
You can read more Europa League tips here.