footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first ...

Lillerød Lillerød (sometimes named ''Allerød'') is a Danish town, seat of the Allerød Municipality, in the Region Hovedstaden. Its population 1 January 2022 was of 16,741.Brøndby goalkeeper Sten Christensen, he began his career with Skjold Birkerød and later joined Brøndby. He spent eight years there, attracting the interest of Europe's elite clubs including Arsenal,

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, Manchester City, and Bayern Munich. On 7 February 2012, Christensen signed for Chelsea on a free transfer, near the end of

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...

' tenure as the club's manager. Upon joining the London side, Christensen said: "I have chosen Chelsea because they play the kind of football I like.” Christensen was first included in a Chelsea senior squad for their last game of the 2012–13 season on 19 May 2013, but did not feature in the match, which ended a 2–1 home win over Everton in

Rafael Benítez Rafael Benítez Maudes (born 16 April 1960) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player who most recently managed club Everton. Benítez joined Real Madrid's coaching staff at the age of 26, going on to work as the under- ...

's last match as manager. In the pre-season tour of the United States before the 2013–14 season, he was part of the senior team squad and signed a professional contract thereafter.

2014–15 season

He made his professional debut on 28 October 2014, playing the full 90 minutes at right-back as Chelsea won 2–1 away to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

in the fourth round of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. Christensen did not play again until 24 January 2015, when he was utilised in the same position for Chelsea's 4–2 home defeat to

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

team

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

fourth round. Although Christensen played no further part in the campaign, Chelsea won the League Cup with a 2–0 victory over

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each participant o ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

. When asked who was

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

for the final, manager José Mourinho said, "Man of the match was Andreas Christensen who played well against Shrewsbury. There are more than

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea, the England national team and Aston Villa. He was most recently the a ...

(the official Man of the match for the final) because we are a team. I am proud of the guys." On 13 April 2015, Christensen played for Chelsea U19 in the final of the 2014–15

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

against

Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club Shakhtar Donetsk ( uk, Футбольний клуб «Шахтар» Донецьк , short nickname "miners") is a Ukrainian professional football club from the city of Donetsk. In 2014, due to the War in Donbass, the club was f ...

in Switzerland and although he scored an own goal to cancel out Izzy Brown's opener in the first-half, Chelsea still ended with a 3–2 victory. He made his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

debut against Sunderland on 24 May, replacing

Mikel John Obi Mikel John Obi (born John Michael Nchekwube Obinna; 22 April 1987) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Mikel began his career with local club Plateau United, before joining Norwegian club Lyn at th ...

with 12 minutes remaining in a 3–1 home victory. Although Christensen only made one league appearances out of the whole season, Mourinho stated that he would receive a replica medal from his club for his contributions this season.

2015–2017: Loan to Borussia Mönchengladbach

On 10 July 2015, Christensen joined Borussia Mönchengladbach on a two-year

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

deal from Chelsea. He made his debut on 10 August against

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

in the first round of the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

, winning 4–1. Five days later, Christensen made his

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

debut in a 4–0 loss at

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

. He scored his first professional goals on 5 February 2016, a brace in a 5–1 win over

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are best known for the ...

at

Borussia-Park Borussia-Park (; stylised as BORUSSIA-PARK) is a football stadium in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany which serves as the home stadium of Bundesliga club Borussia Mönchengladbach. It replaced the smaller Bökelbergstadion, wh ...

. After an impressive debut season, Christensen was voted the team's Player of the Season, ahead of

Granit Xhaka Granit Xhaka (born 27 September 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Arsenal and the Switzerland national team. Xhaka began his career at hometown club FC Basel, winning the Swiss Super League in each of ...

, the team captain. After the success of his first season, Mönchengladbach made multiple attempts to make his loan permanent during the 2016 summer transfer window, although it was reported that Chelsea rejected the £14.25 million bid from the German club. In the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League, Christensen scored the final goal of a 4–2 win away to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

in the second leg of the last 32 to assure a 4–3 aggregate win. He was on target again in the next round against neighbours Schalke, who won on away goals after a 3–3 aggregate draw.

2017–2022: Return to Chelsea

On 12 August 2017, Christensen made his first appearance for Chelsea following his two-year loan spell in Germany, coming off the bench following captain

Gary Cahill Gary James Cahill (born 19 December 1985) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. Cahill began his career playing for the AFC Dronfield youth system in Derbyshire. In 2000, he joined the Aston Villa Academy an ...

being sent off, in Chelsea's 3–2 opening day home defeat against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

. Eight days later, he made his first Premier League start in a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. On 9 January 2018, Christensen signed a new four-and-half-year deal with Chelsea running until 2022, after establishing himself in the first team. Christensen made 40 appearances for the Blues in 2017–18, including three in the victorious

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

campaign. However, a back injury meant he was not involved in the final. Prior to the season's finish, he was awarded the club's Young Player of the Year award. New manager

Maurizio Sarri Maurizio Sarri (; born 10 January 1959) is an Italian professional football manager who is the current manager of club Lazio. Sarri did not play football professionally, taking part as an amateur centre back and coach while working as a banker. ...

preferred to pair

David Luiz David Luiz Moreira Marinho (born 22 April 1987) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays for Flamengo. Primarily a centre back, he can also be deployed as a defensive midfielder. After starting out at Vitoria, David Luiz moved to B ...

and

Antonio Rüdiger Antonio Rüdiger (born 3 March 1993) is a German professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and the Germany national football team, Germany national team. Rüdiger began ...

in central defence, and by February 2019 Christensen had made 15 appearances, only two of which in the league. However, he ruled out wanting to leave the club. On 29 May 2021, Christensen replaced the injured

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional Association Football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and captains the Brazil national football team, Brazil national team. Con ...

in the 39th minute as he won his first-ever

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

after Chelsea won 1–0 against Manchester City in the

2021 UEFA Champions League Final The 2021 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League, the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Cup to the ...

in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

. On 20 October 2021, Christensen scored his first goal for Chelsea in a 4–0 win against

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...

in the group stage of the Champions League.

Barcelona

On 4 July 2022, Christensen signed for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

club

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

in a free transfer on a four-year contract with a buyout clause of €500 million. On 13 August, he made his debut in 0–0 draw against

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Li ...

in the league.

International career

On 8 June 2015, Christensen made his senior international debut for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

in a 2–1 home friendly win against

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

at the Viborg Stadium, as a 69th-minute substitute for Pierre-Emile Højbjerg. On 24 March 2016, Christensen made his first Denmark start in a 2–1 victory over

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, playing the full 90 minutes of the friendly at the MCH Arena. Christensen played six matches in Denmark's successful

2018 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification process was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations to decide 31 of the 32 teams which would play in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, with Russia qualifying automatically as hosts. All 210 ...

campaign. On 14 November 2017 he scored his first international goal to equalise in a 5–1 win over the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

in the second leg of the play-off. Manager

Åge Hareide Åge Fridtjof Hareide (born 23 September 1953) is a Norwegian football manager and player, currently managing Malmö FF as the interim manager. In his playing career, he played for Hødd and Molde in Norway as well as Manchester City and Norwich ...

called him up for the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

tournament in Russia. He partnered

Simon Kjær Simon Thorup Kjær (born 26 March 1989) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club AC Milan and captains the Denmark national team. He was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year and 2009 Danish Talent of t ...

in central defence, having been able to play in that position due to Andreas Bjelland's absence through injury, but played in defensive midfield in the final group game against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. In the last 16 against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, he remained in midfield to combat the opponents' strength in that sector, but made an error that allowed

Mario Mandžukić Mario Mandžukić (; born 21 May 1986) is a Croatian football coach and a former player who is an assistant coach of the Croatia national team. As a player, he played as a forward and became known for his aggressiveness, defensive contribution ...

to equalise as Croatia went on to win on penalties. Andreas Christensen was one of the key players for Denmark during their very successful

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

campaign, as he played all six games. On 21 June 2021, Christensen scored a thunderous goal from long range against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

in a 4–1 win that helped Denmark advance to the knockout-phase of the tournament. After having defeated both

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

to get there, Denmark lost to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the semi-final 2–1 after extra time at Wembley Stadium.

Style of play

Christensen is a centre-back and is known for his calmness in possession and precise passing, as well as his aerial dominance. In 2018, Chelsea manager

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later ...

said the Dane had displayed "great maturity" adding that he has "a lot of trust in Christensen. This player is a player for the present for Chelsea, and for Chelsea's future for 10 or 14 years. He can also become the captain of this team in the future". In appreciation of his playing talents, fans have also labelled him as the 'Danish Maldini', drawing comparisons with the Italian defender

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Denmark's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Christensen goal''

Honours

Chelsea Youth * FA Youth Cup: 2013–14 *

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

: 2014–15 Chelsea *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 2017–18; runner-up: 2019–20, 2020–21 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

: 2020–21 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

: 2018–19 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* FIFA Club World Cup:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

* EFL Cup runner-up: 2018–19 Barcelona * Supercopa de España: 2022–23 Individual *Danish Talent of the Year: 2015 * Borussia Mönchengladbach Player of the Year: 2015–16 * Chelsea Young Player of the Year: 2017–18

References

External links

Profile
at the FC Barcelona website
Profile
at the Danish Football Association website (in Danish) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Christensen, Andreas 1996 births Living people People from Allerød Municipality Sportspeople from the Capital Region of Denmark Danish men's footballers Association football defenders Brøndby IF players Chelsea F.C. players Borussia Mönchengladbach players FC Barcelona players Premier League players Bundesliga players La Liga players FA Cup Final players UEFA Europa League winning players UEFA Champions League winning players Denmark youth international footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Denmark international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Danish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Spain Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Danish expatriate sportspeople in Germany Danish expatriate sportspeople in Spain

Club career

Chelsea

Early career

2014–15 season

2015–2017: Loan to Borussia Mönchengladbach

2017–2022: Return to Chelsea

Barcelona

International career

Style of play

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

References

External links