Denmark's league champions FC Copenhagen (FCK in local parlance) are up against Malmö FF in the competition’s group stage, in an unusual meeting between the two geographically-close clubs.

FCK go into the match as arguable favourites, given their position as the richest club in Scandinavia and record as six-time Danish champions within the last ten years.

But the Swedish side will also fancy their chances, having won their own league, the Allsvenskan, five times in the last decade.

Danish midfielder Anders Christiansen, who crossed the Öresund to play for Malmö in 2016, said that his side were in prime position to challenge FCK for the claim of being Scandinavia’s best team.

“There has been a lot of talk about who is the biggest club in Scandinavia. If we say it’s FCK, I’d also say Malmö is right behind. And you also can’t leave out (Norwegian team) Rosenborg,” Christiansen told TV2 Sport.

Although the two cities are only around 45 kilometres apart and a train journey between them takes no more than half an hour, the Malmö-FCK match is a very rare occurrence, since each team competes in its national league.

In general, the chance for a bit of cross-Öresund (or should that be Øresund?) rivalry doesn’t come up particularly often.

In May, Malmö's Turning Torso tower retained its status as the tallest building in the Öresund region, after Copenhagen's city government rejected plans for a 280 metre tower.

That aside, bragging rights are completely up for grabs in the sporting meeting between the cities.

Thursday’s match kicks off at 9pm in the Skåne city, with the return to be played at Copenhagen’s Parken on December 12th.

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