Beyond that summer is present in the Northern Hemisphere. The four teams that kicked off the Champions League on Tuesday, in its preliminary round, had an extra rival in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland: the cold. The three games were scheduled there (the two semifinals played this Tuesday and the final on Friday) between the four champion teams from the four Leagues with the worst UEFA coefficient at the end of 2022: this is La Fiorita, from San Marino; Inter Club d’Escaldes, from Andorra; the Vikingur, from Iceland; and the Levadia, from Estonia.
Vikingur had an advantage: it lent its stadium and it was local. Despite not having the atmosphere of Anfield or the Bernabéu, the home team did not fail and thrashed Levadia 6-1. The final will be against Inter Club d’Escaldes, who beat La Fiorita 2-1. A quirk? The first goal of the centers (and of the Champions) was scored by the Argentine, ex Chacarita, daniel rinaldiwho has been playing in San Marino for years and defending the colors of the national team of that small state.
But back to the match scene, at Víkingsvöllur (also known as Víkin or Keppnisvöllur) Enter 1,449 people all seated and indoors. On festive or exceptional occasions, a further 300 standing fans are allowed. A unique detail (although not so much in northern Europe): it is played on synthetic grass.
–
The winner of this phase already has a rival in the next one, which is the first round. Y the draw determined that it was a team with tradition and history: Malmö, from SwedenEuropean runner-up (lost to Nottingham Forest 1-0) and Intercontinental runner-up (lost to Olimpia 3-1 on aggregate), in 1979. Closer in time, there he took his first steps as a professional as Zlatan Ibrahimović .
The player with the highest market value in this mini-tournament in Iceland, according to the specialized site Transfermarkt, is Oleksiy Khoblenko, with 500 thousand euros. He was born in Yekaterinburg, Russia, but became a Ukrainian citizen. He comes from Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih and now plays for Levadia. He arrived as a free player in March, after the war that is raging in the region.
Levadia, champion of Estonia, one of the four members of the opening day of the Champions League 22/23. (AP Photo/Hendrik Osula)
–
San Marino, the third smallest state in Europe, it is also the oldest republic. According to tradition, it was founded in the year 301 when a Christian stonemason named Marino the Dalmatian left the island of Arbe to escape the anti-Christian policy of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. As for football, he has one of the worst teams in history.
Almost always last in the FIFA ranking (it must not be easy to put together a team among 33,938 inhabitants; that is why most of its soccer players are Italian and it even has the Argentines Ramiro Lago and the aforementioned Danilo Rinaldi, captain of La Fiorita). And, of course, their teams in the UEFA coefficient also take a backseat. Serve a data: his only victory was against Liechtenstein (1-0), in 2004. Two years later at his stadium in Serravalle, Germany beat him 13-0.
From that football comes La Fiorita. It doesn’t have much to offer overall. The figures of him, midfielder Damiano Errico and central marker Andrea Breghi (both of Italian origin)They are listed at 100,000 euros.
–
Just as it happens with the Italians in San Marino, it happens with the Spaniards (especially Catalans) in Andorra: the teams and sometimes the selected ones feed on their powerful neighbors. In fact, at Inter Club d’Escaldes there are more Spaniards than locals.
This Inter, which, like Italy, usually wears black and blue and its shield shows off those colours, has with four players valued at 200,000 euros: Pau Bosch and Adriá Gallego -both Spaniards who were champions last season with the team- and two reinforcements, Jesús Rubio and the Moroccan nationalized Spanish Ahmed Belhadji.
–
The semifinals between these four unknown to the football elite were played continuously. In the first turn, Inter beat La Fiorita 2-1, after going into the break at a disadvantage by goal of Argentine Rinaldi. But in the 21st minute, already in the second half, with two goals from the Catalan Genís Soldevilla Solduga, who arrived at Inter in 2018, after having abandoned football.
In the second round, at home, Vikingur thrashed Levadia 6-1 and took the other place in Friday’s decisive match against Inter Andorra. He also turned the game around. He was losing from five minutes due to a penalty goal from Beglarishvil. But already with 27 years he won 2-1. And since then he has not stopped. He converted a goal on the hour of the first half and another three in the second. The authors: McLagan, Ingason, Sigurdsson, Hansen, Gudjonsson, and Magnusson.
This Friday will be the time for this luck of the first Champions League final. For its participants it is not little. It means going up to Europe or going back to compete at home.
Without the shine of the final phases, the Champions League began to be played in Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. Photo: Instagram.
–
It’s from Latino
–
