FC Copenhagen start the defence of their Danish SuperLeague title away to AaB Aalborg tomorrow, with Michael Laudrup's Brondby again set to provide the stiffest challenge to their supremacy.

Brondby finished runners-up last season after losing their penultimate game to Copenhagen, a defeat made all the more costly because only the title winners in Denmark gain entry to the Champions League qualifying competition.

FC Copenhagen will play against Malta's Sliema Wanderers on Wednesday and August 6.

Although the Danes are respected on the international stage - their most notable success being their 1992 European championship triumph - the domestic league remains somewhat obscure with few high-profile names, except for Laudrup.

Last season's title was FC Copenhagen's third following previous successes in 1993 and 2001. FC Copenhagen president Flemming Ostergaard took over in 1997 and has turned the club from a money-losing venture into a financial success. They have bought their home stadium and that is just one of many revenue streams the club can now count on. The Danish champions' parent company is Parken Sports and Entertainment A/S.

Interest in FC Copenhagen, founded in 1992 when two clubs - B 1903 Copenhagen and FC Copenhagen - merged, has skyrocketed. When Ostergaard took control, their average home support was 7,000. That number is now nearly 30,000.

For 2002 champions Brondby, who take on newcomers Herfolge in their opening match, anything but another SuperLeague title will be regarded as a failure.

Since they captured their first SuperLeague title in 1985, Brondby have more or less ruled Danish football, winning another eight titles since. They won their fourth Danish Cup in May by beating FC Midtjylland 3-0.