"Making history, not reliving it," read a banner stationed in the away end at the Parken Stadium. For Chelsea, that is what winning this competition is all about.
If the Blues manage to get their hands on the Conference League trophy, they will be the first team in history to have won it while also boasting triumphs in the Champions League and Europa League. Enzo Maresca said on Wednesday that he and his squad will be taking this competition very seriously, with it now being the club's only chance of silverware during the Italian's debut season.
However, with 17-year-old Shim Mheuka leading the line, the XI he fielded said slightly different. Not for any fault of Mheuka's, but he was unable to impact the game. In fact, nobody from the Chelsea side were able to do anything positive in the first-half. It was slow, predictable and extremely easy for a Copenhagen side that were prepared to sit in a low block and counter-attack.
A triple change at half-time from Maresca changed things for the good from a Chelsea perspective. Off went Mheuka, Moises Caicedo and Benoit Badiashile for Christopher Nkunku, Enzo Fernandez and Levi Colwill. All three had big contributions, albeit Colwill's was not a positive one; finding himself in no man's land for Gabriel Pereira's goal to bring the hosts back into the tie.
Nkunku injected some much-needed intensity into Chelsea's attacking play and it immediately told. Although he did not have an impact on Reece James' goal, the captain broke the deadlock for the Blues with a well taken strike from long distance.
For the second goal, though, Nkunku played a huge role, helping to win the ball back from Copenhagen in a dangerous position before Tyrique George pulled the ball back for Fernandez to double the away side's advantage. Fernandez has been mightily impressive in recent matches for the Blues and he continued that with a terrific contribution in the second period in Denmark.
A celebration filled with passion - something the Chelsea fans cannot get enough of with the Argentine midfielder, who leaves everything on the pitch time and time again.
A lapse of concentration on Chelsea's side, though, allowed Copenhagen back into the match and set up a nervy ending on the night. The Blues held on, but it now means the west Londoners have plenty of work to do next week when the Danes come to west London. They showed on numerous occasions during the 90-plus minutes that they are a side to be taken seriously.
Chelsea found a way to record the win, though, and the influence from James played a significant part in that. Back in October, Maresca told his captain that he needed more from him off the pitch, as a leader, and judging by recent showings, the skipper has answered his calls. Emphatically, too.
He was doing that from the centre of midfield as well - a position he has been used at in various points in his career; most commonly, though, while on loan at Wigan Athletic way back in the 2018/19 season. The 25-year-old shone at the Parken Stadium in Maresca's second trial of him there, after being deployed there in the defeat to Aston Villa last month.
"So, you can ask Reece; when I signed with Chelsea, probably the day after, I sent him a video about seeing him as a midfielder. I see Reece as a midfielder, not now - since day one, before I met him for the first time, he was on holiday. I sent him a clip about him playing as a midfielder," Maresca said post-match.
"I mentioned Reece playing as a midfielder a long time ago. He is playing there now but the good thing is he played this year already as a full-back, as a centre-back and in the central midfielder. The main target for us is to help him be fit all season."
James may not have taken too well to being disturbed while on holiday but it showed him early on just how determined and obsessed Maresca is to get this project right.