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BRUGES, Belgium (AP) — FC Copenhagen beat Club Brugge 2-0 on Wednesday but failed to reach the knockout stage of the Champions League because its Group G rival FC Porto also won.
The Danish champions went ahead after eight minutes when Brugge defender Brandon Mechele shouldered a swerving free kick past his own goalkeeper. Further highlighting Danish dominance in the air, Mathias Jorgensen added a second with a header seven minutes later.
The goals provided little to celebrate, though, as Porto had already scored against group winner Leicester by that time and went on to win 5-0.
It left Leicester with 13 points from its six games, two more than Porto. Copenhagen had nine points and will now play in the Europa League, while Brugge finished its campaign with a sixth straight loss.
Brugge was already eliminated going into the match and kept a half dozen of its first-choice players on the bench in anticipation of Sunday's league clash against bitter rival Anderlecht.
Once Copenhagen went ahead, it broke the spirit of Brugge. "It was not good enough," Brugge defender Ruud Vormer said.
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