Danish doubts for Brøndby

By Peter Bruun

Danish leaders Brøndby IF have not enjoyed the best of times since the Superliga season resumed in March.

Laudrup wary
At the restart, Brøndby seemed destined for a tenth title, as they held a ten-point advantage over nearest rivals FC Midtjylland with 15 games remaining, and were a further six points above champions FC København. Despite their healthy position, however, Brøndby coach Michael Laudrup was wary of the threat posed by the chasing pack.

Brøndby falter
Indeed, Hans Backe, Laudrup's counterpart at København, had issued the following warning: "The championship is no longer realistic, but we will fight for it as long as it is mathematically possible." After three rounds, this defiant approach appears to have been justified with Brøndby suffering two draws and a defeat.

Gap closed
The loss was a 1-0 reverse at home to Midtjylland on 2 April, meaning the gap between the two clubs is down to eight points with Midtjylland preceding that result with a 0-0 home draw with Odense BK. However, prior to that they had lost 4-0 at København as football returned on 13 March.

Three wins
That emphatic scoreline was the first of three wins for FCK, allowing them to chop seven points off their deficit to stand nine points off top spot. The Lions matched the Midtjylland win against Randers FC before an excellent 2-1 away success against OB.

Nielsen optimistic
"The race in on - not only for us, but definitely also for København," said Midtjylland striker David Nielsen, who scored the winning goal at Brøndby, although Backe was reluctant to talk about his team's chances of taking their third title in succession. "We will probably have to win the rest of our matches to become champions, and I am not sure how realistic that is," said the København coach.

Royal hope
Meanwhile, København are the only Danish side left in the inter-Scandinavian Royal League tournament. In the second group stage, they have drawn 2-2 at home to Rosenborg BK and suffered a 1-0 defeat at Malmø FF with the reverse fixtures to come. This leaves Backe's men bottom of Group 1 with one point, two behind Malmø and three adrift of Rosenborg. The section winners will progress to the final against Group B's top team on 25 May.