The football players of KÍ Klaksvík took care of a historic moment on Wednesday. The reigning champion from the Faroe Islands shocked the Swedish BK Häcken after Ferencvárosi Budapest and made it to the 3rd preliminary round of the Champions League for the first time.
The club from the city of 5,000 will be the first team from the Faroe Islands to play in the group stage of one of the European club competitions, as it already has certain participation in at least the group of the European Conference League.
news-item-description">SK Slovan Bratislava footballers will compete in the 3rd preliminary round of the Champions League 2023/2024 against Maccabi Haifa. The Whites will play their first duel on August 9 at home, the rematch in Israel is scheduled for August 15.
“Tears. Tears of joy. What a team. What a club. What a city. What a story. Amazing support. This is unreal,” wrote the club on the social network after Wednesday’s rematch of the 2nd preliminary round of the LM. In it, Klaksvík eliminated Häcken 4:3 in a shootout.
After a goalless draw at home, the rematch on the ground of the Swedish champion ended in a 3:3 draw. With his second goal, midfielder Arni Frederiksberg set up extra time for 2:2, and in it, the guests once again took a narrow lead over the big favorite when Häcken scored an own goal in the 109th minute. The home team failed to convert the final two attempts in the shootout, and defender Vegard Forren definitively decided on Klaksvík’s historic progress in the fifth series.
After thirty years, the club from the Faroe Islands managed to break through the preliminary rounds of the European Cups into the main competition. In 1993, HB Tórshavn reached the 1st round of the Cup Winners’ Cup at the expense of the Latvian Jelgava. Semi-amateur Klaksvík created a sensation already in the first preliminary round when they knocked out the highly favored Ferencváros Budapest (0:0 at home and 3:0 away). The Hungarian champion ended his cooperation with coach Stanislav Čerčesov after the embarrassment.
Bratislava’s Slovan also had an unpleasant experience with Klaksvík, who in August 2020 could not play in the first preliminary round of the LM in the Faroe Islands after testing positive for the coronavirus in two of their matches, and UEFA therefore awarded the home team a 3-0 forfeit victory and further progress. He was then eliminated in the 2nd preliminary round with Young Boys Bern.
After the scalps of Ferencváros and Häcken, Klaksvík will fight for a place in the playoffs for the group stage of the Champions League. His next opponent will be the Norwegian champion Molde FK, the first duel is played next Wednesday in the Faroe Islands.
2023-08-03 07:45:00
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