THE CHAAAAAAAAAAMPIOOOOOOOOOOOONS!

Hello football fans, and I hope you sung that previous line just like I did! The UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds are nearly finished, with only the final legs of the last round to play next week. With that said, let’s take a look at some of the storylines that came from this year’s qualifying rounds, and which teams are starting to dream of making history in the main competition. I wanted to shine a light on the qualifiers specifically, to give some recognition to some of the best teams from the leagues that many likely don’t follow very closely.

History for Faroe Islands!

The first qualifying round of this year’s Champions League was composed of teams from countries all over Europe, with the smallest country represented being the Faroe Islands. While technically part of Denmark, the Faroe Islands compete separately in international and club play, with their own league. The Faroe Islands are home to just over 54,000 people, which leaves a large gap between their population and that of just the individual cities that call the other UCL clubs home. (Their only opponent from a city with a lower population than the Faroe Islands was Molde, a small town in Norway with 30,000 inhabitants). The winners of the Faroese league last year, earning them a spot in the first qualifying round, are Klaksvíkar Ítróttarfelag. Did you catch that the first time? If you also fear the thought of properly pronouncing their name correctly, they are commonly referred to simply as “KI” or “KI Klaksvik”. This is what their home pitch looks like:

It might be a far cry from the Santiago Bernabeu, but to me it’s just as beautiful. In the first qualifying round, Klaksvik were drawn against Hungarian champions, Ferencvaros. After holding the Hungarians scoreless at home on the islands, KI went on to Budapest for the return leg, and shocked the home crowd with a 3-0 win to move on to the next round! Swedish Allsvenskan winners BK Hacken were next up for the Faroese club, and after back to back draws with an aggregate score of 3-3, KI triumphed on penalties to make it 2 steps from the Champions League, something never achieved by a Faroese club before. In the third qualifying round, Klaksvik came up against Norwegian champions Molde, where 4,584 proud fans watched Klaksvik take a 2-1 win off an 86′ winner from Arni Frederiksburg. Unfortunately, the fairytale run would end in the second leg in Norway, where Molde would win 2-0 to advance. Still, this performance by KI Klaksvik has secured them the Europa Conference League group stage, with a chance still to qualify for the Europa League group stage with a win in the final qualifying round. A wonderful, historical achievement for the small club from the Faroe Islands, where the prize money from their performance in European competitions will surely give them the platform to aim even higher in future years.

An Atypical Family Reunion

Alright, so imagine you’re Óskar Hrafn Þorvaldsson, a former Icelandic professional footballer who after your playing career ended, decided to settle down and start a family. Your son, Orri Óskarsson, grows up wanting to play football as well, and when you decide to try your hand at management in the Icelandic third tier, give him his senior debut before his 14th birthday. You go on to win back to back promotions, earning you the managerial position at Breiðablik in 2020, one of Icelands top clubs. Your son Orri becomes a highly rated prospect after making his senior debut at age 13, and gets a move to FC Kobenhavn at the same time, joining their youth academy. Fast-forward 3 years, and you’ve won the Icelandic league with Breiðablik, and after beating Shamrock Rovers in the first qualifying round, are drawn against… FC Kobenhavn. Kobenhavn won the first leg away 2-0, and in the second leg are up 5-1 on aggregate. On comes your son Orri, who proceeds to score a second-half hat trick, sealing the victory for the Danish club and knocking you out of Champions League qualifiers. Talk about an awkward dinner the next time Orri comes home for a break. Currently, Breiðablik are still in contention to qualify for the Europa Conference League if they can manage to beat North Macedonian side FK Struga, while FC Kobenhaven are up 1-0 on Polish side Rakow Czestochowa going into the second leg of the final UCL qualifying round. I’m sure Óskar is rooting for Orri to make it into the Champions League group stage now!

New Arrivals to The Champions League?

In the final round of qualifying, 4 teams remain that have never made it into the Champions League group stage: Royal Antwerp, Rakow Czestochowa, Panathanaikos, and Molde. Another Greek club, AEK Athens, is looking to return for the first time since 1994-1995. Currently, Antwerp are up 1-0 on AEK Athens after the first leg in Belgium and Rakow Czestochowa are down 1-0 to FC Kobenhavn after their home leg. Molde have shown a “never say die” attitude, coming back from a first leg deficit in each of their 2 qualifying round wins over Finnish side HJK and the aforementioned KI Klaksvik. In the first leg of their final qualifying round against Galatasaray, Molde fought back from a 2-1 deficit to tie the game in the second half, before Norwegian substitute Frederik Midtsjo scored a 94′ winner for Galatasaray. This will have been especially delighting for Midtsjo, who was a former Rosenborg player and rival of Molde during his time in Norway. In other ties, Panathinaikos go home down 1-2 on aggregate to Portuguese side Braga, Maccabi Haifa and Young Boys produced a scoreless draw, and Scottish runners up Rangers drew 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven in Scotland. The next leg of fixtures will finish next week, wrapping up the qualification campaign for this year.

By the end of August, the teams competing in the 2023-2024 edition of the UEFA Champions League will be set, with the group draw taking place shortly after. I’ll be releasing a full group-by-group prediction once the draw takes place. I hope you enjoyed this article, and will enjoy watching the Champions League this year!