The 2023–24 Brøndby IF season was Brøndbyernes Idrætsforening's 43rd consecutive season in top-division of the Danish football league, the 34th consecutive in

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

, and the 58th as a

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

. Besides the Superliga, the club also competed in the

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

. It was the second season with head coach Jesper Sørensen, after he replaced

Niels Frederiksen Niels Frederiksen (; born 5 November 1970) is a Danish professional association football, football Manager (association football), manager who is currently in charge of Polish Ekstraklasa club Lech Poznań. Frederiksen began his career as a head ...

during the 2022–23 season. This season covers the period from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. Following elimination from the Danish Cup in the fifth round, they finished second in the Danish Superliga and qualified for next season's

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

qualifiers.

Background and pre-season

The 2023–24 season is Brøndby's 43rd consecutive season in the top-division of the Danish football league. In the previous season, Brøndby had finished fifth, out of position to qualify for European football. Jesper Sørensen serves as manager for a second season, having been appointed in early-2023 after former head coach

had been dismissed.

Kevin Mensah Kevin Niclas Mensah (; born 10 May 1991) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a full-back. Mensah began his senior career with Viborg, later joining Esbjerg fB before moving to Brøndby in 2017. Originally a forward, he transitio ...

was the team's captain for a second season, after

Andreas Maxsø Andreas Beyer Maxsø (; born 18 March 1994) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids and the Denmark national team. He is known for his strength, leadership and aerial ability. ...

's departure in January 2023. There were significant changes to the playing squad ahead of the season, and key players the previous years left the club for undisclosed fees, including Mads Hermansen to

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, Anis Ben Slimane to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Simon Hedlund Simon Fredrik Hedlund (; born 11 March 1993) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Allsvenskan club Elfsborg. Hedlund joined IF Elfsborg at the age of 16 and debuted in the Allsvenskan in 2012. In 2016, he moved to U ...

IF Elfsborg Idrottsföreningen Elfsborg, more commonly known as IF Elfsborg or simply Elfsborg (), is a professional association football, football club based in Borås, Sweden, and is affiliated to the Västergötlands Fotbollförbund. They play in the Alls ...

, and

Blas Riveros Blas Miguel Riveros Galeano (born 3 February 1998) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Argentine Primera División club Talleres and the Paraguay national team. Club career Olimpia Asunción Riveros start ...

to Talleres. The club made a high-profile signing early in the window in Jacob Rasmussen from

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, as well as

Sean Klaiber Sean Desmond Klaiber (born 31 July 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Danish Superliga club Brøndby. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Suriname national team. He formerly played for Utrecht, Dordrecht an ...

from

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

later on. Adding to this, they signed young prospects Justin Che, Mateusz Kowalczyk,

Yuito Suzuki is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a winger for German club SC Freiburg and the Japan national team. Club career Shimizu S-Pulse After graduating from Ichiritsu Funabashi High School in 2019, Suzuki ...

and Emmanuel Yeboah. The team prepared for the new season with a number of friendly matches, including matchups against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

and

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

Season summary

July–December

Brøndby had a strong start to the Danish Superliga season, securing a 2–1 away win against

Silkeborg Silkeborg () is a Denmark, Danish town with a population of 52,571 (1 January 2025).Nicolai Vallys Nicolai Frimodt Vallys (; born 4 September 1996) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Danish Superliga club Brøndby, and the Denmark national team. Club career Early years Vallys grew up in th ...

made a significant impact in the attack, scoring six goals in the first eight games of the season and earning the Danish Superliga Player of the Month award for August and a call-up for the Denmark national team. Brøndby took on

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

for the season's first Copenhagen Derby on 24 September, coming off the win streak. They could, however, not continue the win streak, despite dominating in the first half. Two late goals from

Roony Bardghji Roony Bardghji (; born 15 November 2005) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a right winger for La Liga club Barcelona. Born in Kuwait to a Syriac family from Syria, he has represented Sweden at youth level. Early life Bardghji wa ...

sealed Copenhagen's 3–2 win. Just three days later, Brøndby made a strong comeback in the

, securing a 3–0 victory against HIK. They maintained their excellent form in the subsequent two games, with wins over

Hvidovre Hvidovre is the main town in Hvidovre Municipality, Denmark. The town, a suburb of Copenhagen, is about 10 km southwest of the capital's center. It is the 2nd biggest suburb of Copenhagen, only beaten by Frederiksberg. History Hvidovre has ...

and Viborg, which catapulted them to the top of the league table. Brøndby concluded the fall season with a positive streak, remaining undefeated in eight games. Despite this, they drew half of these matches. As a result, by December 2023, they held the second position in the league table, trailing only behind

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

. Additionally, their journey in the Danish Cup came to an end in December, bowing out in the quarter-finals with a 3–2 aggregate loss to AGF, despite securing a 2–1 home win in the second leg.

January–May

During the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

, Brøndby strengthened their defense by acquiring Jordi Vanlerberghe from

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

club

KV Mechelen Yellow Red Koninklijke Voetbalclub Mechelen (), often called KV Mechelen (, KVM) or simply by their former French name Malinois /ˌmalɪˈnwɑː/, is a Belgian professional association football, football club based in Mechelen in the Antwerp (pr ...

and signing Denmark youth international Filip Bundgaard from

Randers Randers () is a city in Randers Municipality, Central Denmark Region on the Jutland peninsula. It is List of cities and towns in Denmark, Denmark's sixth-largest city, with a population of 64,511 (). Departing the club,

Håkon Evjen Håkon Evjen (born 14 February 2000) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eliteserien club Bodø/Glimt. Club career Evjen started out playing with his hometown club, FK Mjølner, before moving to Bodø/Glimt wit ...

returned to Norwegian football, and Yousef Salech, who had been on loan to Belgian club

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. Th ...

for the first half of the season, moved permanently to Swedish club

IK Sirius Idrottsklubben Sirius, commonly known as IK Sirius or Sirius, is a Swedish Sport, sports club located in Uppsala. Today IK Sirius is active in bandy, floorball, and association football, football as an . History The sports club that became IK Sir ...

. Brøndby began 2024 with two league wins, with Patrick Pentz achieving clean sheets in 1–0 and 3–0 victories against Midtjylland and OB, including a penalty save in the former. A 1–1 draw against

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality (''Municipalities of De ...

was followed by two more wins, finishing the regular season in second place and qualifying for the championship round. A last-minute goal by

, assisted by Jacob Rasmussen, secured a 2–1 away win over Copenhagen on the first matchday of the championship round, putting Brøndby in first place. After draws against AGF and Silkeborg, they achieved a crucial win over Midtjylland with a 2–1 victory thanks to two goals from

. Despite another Suzuki goal in a draw against

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand (), refers to the northeastern part of the Danish island of Zealand. The Danish tourist authorities have recently introduced the term Danish Riviera to cover the area in view of its increasing importance for to ...

, Brøndby lost ground in the title race on 5 May with a 3–2 away defeat to Midtjylland, their first loss in 19 league games. This was followed by another defeat on 12 May at home to Copenhagen, dropping Brøndby from first to fourth. They bounced back with wins against Nordsjælland and Silkeborg, putting them in a position to secure the league title on the final day, leading Midtjylland by goal difference. However, a 3–2 home loss to AGF and Midtjylland's 3–3 draw with Silkeborg meant Brøndby finished their 2023–24 Danish Superliga campaign in second place, one point behind champions Midtjylland.

Background and pre-season

Season summary

July–December

January–May

Squad

Out on loan

Transfers

In

Out

Loans in

Loans out

New contracts

Non-competitive

Pre-season friendlies

Competitions

Danish Superliga

Regular season

Superliga results summary

Results by round – Regular season

Championship round

Results by round – Championship round

Regular season

Championship round

Danish Cup

Statistics

Appearances and goals

Goal scorers

Assists

Clean sheets

Disciplinary record

Home attendance

References