Madsen: Rangers the ideal preparation for us

F.C. Copenhagen taken on Rangers FC in a winter friendly on Tuesday evening and assistant coach Stefan Madsen is looking forward to the clash in Glasgow.

The Lions are down to play six friendlies between now and the first competitive game of 2024 against Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League.

And Madsen believes Rangers will be the ideal test for the Lions.

"We had a really positive experience when we played a similar match last year against Bayer Leverkusen, where we faced a high-level opponent who was also competing for points in their league and in Europe," says Madsen.

"It will be in a great setting with up to 25,000 fans in a great stadium, which helps to make it a match with something extra added in, compared to a more standard training match in Denmark in January.

"Therefore, we can use the match to accelerate our start-up and get the players up to speed already."

The FCK players returned from their Christmas and New Year break in early January and have already been put through their paces.

"The players are in a really good place physically, and no one is going to play 90 minutes," adds Madsen. "It will be 45-60 minutes each, depending on the individual, but the players have shown in their tests and on the training pitch that they are ready for the load that a match like this gives them.

"We'll stay overnight in Scotland until Wednesday, which would be a low-intensity day after the game anyway, and then they'll be ready on the training pitch again on Thursday. That way, we won't lose anything in terms of training, but gain a lot by a game at high level that pushes us."

Watch F.C. Copenhagen live this winter
Fans can stream all of this winter's friendly matches in the FCK App and on tv.fck.dk, where you can watch games if you are a cardholder/subscriber or have taken out an FCK+ subscription. The subscription costs DKK 59 per month without binding, and you can buy it here at billet.fck.dk.