Following a seven-season spell that produced just one Swiss Cup in terms of silverware, Basel completed a domestic double in 2024/25. Qualifying for the league phase of this competition, with them not competing in the main draw since 2017/18, would be further proof of their resurgence, and they looked like a team on a mission early on.
Within just three minutes, Albian Ajeti had forced a brilliant stop from Dominik Kotarski, while Léo Leroy also tested the shot-stopper before the quarter-hour mark.
In fact, the game’s opening goal originated from Leroy’s effort. The resulting Xherdan Shaqiri corner saw Ajeti grappled to the ground by Rodrigo Huescas, leaving referee Anthony Taylor with little choice but to point to the spot. Basel and Switzerland legend Shaqiri is now back where it all started, and he showed all of his experience to send Kotarski the wrong way.
Basel remained on top for much of the half, but the visitors slowly improved and, had Keigo Tsunemoto not been on hand to block Jordan Larsson’s volley, Copenhagen would have levelled the scoreline.
Ultimately, though, they did just that on the stroke of HT. Marwin Hitz’s fantastic leap kept out Marcos López’s curling free-kick, yet the 37-year-old was at fault for the equaliser almost immediately as he totally misjudged a cross, allowing Gabriel Pereira to head into an empty net.
Opportunities were at a premium after the restart, with Leroy’s deflected effort that was saved by Kotarski the only real opening before 60 minutes were up.
The two teams traded efforts from distance shortly after as William Clem and Shaqiri both tried their luck, but neither well-hit attempt managed to find the target. As the game entered the final 10 minutes, Copenhagen were given a boost when Jonas Adjetey was given a second yellow card after pulling down marauding substitute Youssoufa Moukoko, and they thought they had taken full advantage shortly after.
However, although Andreas Cornelius buried into the corner with aplomb from López’s pass from deep, he was narrowly offside when he ran onto the ball.
In the end, neither side could find a winner, meaning it is all to play for in the Danish capital next week. Basel have now won just one of their past seven UCL qualifiers, but they showed promise here and have every chance of triumphing in the return fixture, while Copenhagen have now lost just one of their 10 competitive matches this term and will themselves be confident of getting the job done on home soil.