2019-20 Champions League First qualifying round : 1st leg : Ararat Armenia (Arm) v AIK Stockholm (Swe), 2-1 1-0 Petros Avetisyan (pen. 3) Red card : Robert Lundstrom, AIK (13) 1-1 Chinedu Obasi (39) 2-1 Petros Avetisyan (45) Attendance : 1,497 Highlights: Linfield (Nir) v Rosenborg (Nor), 0-2 0-1 Mike Jensen (22) 0-2 Alexander Søderlund (69) Attendance : 2,710 HJK Helsinki (Fin) v HB Tórshavn (Far), 3-0 1-0 Lassi Lappalainen (21) Red card : Faith Friday Obilor, HJK (31) 2-0 Daniel O'Shaughnessy (42) 3-0 Lassi Lappalainen (66) Attendance : 4,719 Valur Reykjavík (Ice) v Maribor (Svn), 0-3 0-1 Spiro Pericic (43) 0-2 Dino Hotić (60) 0-3 Rok Kronaveter (pen. 86) Attendance : 1,201 9-11 July: first leg 16-17 July: second leg Second qualifying round draw (matches 23-24 July & 30-31 July) Champions Path The New Saints (Wal)/Feronikeli (Kos) v FC København (Den) Valur Reykjavík (Ice)/Maribor (Svn) v Ararat-Armenia (Arm)/AIK Stockholm (Swe) BATE Borisov (Blr)/Piast Gliwice (Pol) v Linfield (Nir)/Rosenborg (Nor) Sūduva (Lit)/Red Star Belgrade (Srb) v HJK Helsinki (Fin)/HB Tórshavn (Far)
First qualifying round : 2nd leg AIK Stockholm (Swe) v Ararat Armenia (Arm), 3-1 (agg: 4-3) 1-0 Henok Goitom (46) 2-0 Henok Goitom (52) 3-0 Sebastian Larsson (pen. 62) 3-1 Anton Kobyalko (77) Attendance : 11,382 Rosenborg (Nor) v Linfield (Nir), 4-0 (agg: 6-0) 1-0 Anders Konradsen (20) 2-0 Anders Konradsen (51) 3-0 David Akintola (69) 4-0 Pål André Helland (85) Attendance : 11,904 HB Tórshavn (Far) v HJK Helsinki (Fin), 2-2 (agg: 2-5) 1-0 Sebastian Pingel (17) 2-0 Lasse Andersen (58) 2–1 Riku Riski (60) 2–2 Riku Riski (77) Attendance : Maribor (Svn) v Valur Reykjavík (Ice), 2-0 (agg: 5-0) 1-0 Rok Kronaveter (11) 2-0 Tavares (32) Attendance : Second qualifying round draw : Champions Path The New Saints (Wal) v FC København (Den) Maribor (Svn) v AIK Stockholm (Swe) BATE Borisov (Blr) v Rosenborg (Nor) Red Star Belgrade (Srb) v HJK Helsinki (Fin) 23-24 July: first leg 30-31 July: second leg .
Third qualifying round draw (matches 6/7 August & 13 August) Champions path Red Star Belgrade (Srb)/HJK Helsinki (Fin) v TNS (Wal)/FC København (Den) Maribor (Svn)/AIK Stockholm (Swe) v BATE Borisov (Blr)/Rosenborg (Nor)
Second qualifying round draw : Champions Path 1st leg : The New Saints (Wal) v FC København (Den), 0-2 0-1 Pieros Sotiriou (18) 0-2 Robert Skov (pen. 61) Maribor (Svn) v AIK Stockholm (Swe), 2-1 1-0 Rok Kronaveter (6) 1-1 Henok Goitom (28) 2-1 Sasa Ivkovic (38) BATE Borisov (Blr) v Rosenborg (Nor), 2-1 1-0 Igor Stasevich (pen. 5) 1-1 Anders Konradsen (25) 2-1 Maksim Skavysh (51) Red Star Belgrade (Srb) v HJK Helsinki (Fin), 2-0 1-0 Richmond Boakye (27) 2-0 Milan Pavkov (90+1) 30-31 July: second leg
Second qualifying round, Champions Path, 2nd leg : FC København (Den) v The New Saints (Wal), 1-0 (agg: 3-0) 1-0 Carlos Zeca (52) Attendance: 12,523 AIK Stockholm (Swe) v Maribor (Svn), 3-2 AET (agg: 4-4, Maribor win on away goals) 1-0 Per Karlsson (4) 1-1 Andrej Kotnik (48) 2-1 Sebastian Larsson (61) 3-1 Tarik Elyounoussi (93) 3–2 Alexandru Cretu (117) Attendance: 19,179 Rosenborg (Nor) v BATE Borisov (Blr), 2-0 (agg: 3-2) 1-0 Pål André Helland (pen. 73) 2-0 Alexander Søderlund (85) Attendance: 14,875 HJK Helsinki (Fin) v Red Star Belgrade (Srb), 2-1 (agg: 2-3) 1-0 Sebastian Dahlström (46) 1-1 Dusan Jovancic (56) 2-1 Riku Riski (90) Third qualifying round : Champions path Red Star Belgrade (Srb) v FC København (Den) Maribor (Svn) v Rosenborg (Nor) 6-7 August: first legs 13 August: second legs
Third qualifying round : Champions path Red Star Belgrade (Srb) v FC København (Den) Maribor (Svn) v Rosenborg (Nor) 6-7 August: first legs 13 August: second legs Some interesting games, Rosenborg against a Maribor team that narrowly managed to bump off AIK Stockholm on away goals, but unlike Rosenborg, neither AIK or Maribor were able to qualify for a group stage last season, with AIK losing both home and away to FC Nordsjælland in the qualifiers, while Maribor were eliminated by Glasgow Rangers, still it could be a close tie, but in my opinion with Rosenborg being the favorite to progress. They had a terrible start to this season, but all this has changed and they are now rapidly climbing the Norwegian league table, looking like a possible Champion. Red Star Belgrade had a good run Europe last season, but they have looked far from impressive in their first qualifiers this season and on top of this, key central midfielder Branko Jovicic has suffered a knee injured and will be out against a FC København, that on the other hand have been highly active on the transfer market, selling their Finland NT 2nd keeper Jesse Joronen to Brecia, but then on the other hand have replaced him with Swedish and Norwegian NT keepers, Karl-Johan Johnsson from French side Guingamp and 'Superliga keeper of the year 2017 and 2018' Grytebust from OB Odense. FCK have also sold the Slovakian NT centre back Denis Vavro to Lazio and their highly talented U-21 NT top-scorer, Robert Skov, but then on the other hand also, besides two new experienced keepers, having reinforced the team in several positions, spending around €6 million on signing the two highly talented Danish U-21 NT players Victor Nelsson and Jens Stage for the central defense and defensive midfield, just as they have signed the young Croatian NT right back Karlo Bartolec, though as a man for the future because they already have the Uruguay WC-18 NT right back Guillermo Varela and Danish NT right back Peter Ankersen for this position. They have also reinforced the team in left back position with the Costa Rica WC-18 NT regular Bryan Oviedo, who has been signed due to Nicolai Boilesen once more having suffered a long-term injury. You could argue that they have made several changes in defense, which in itself could be a weakness, but on the other hand, in reality they have reinforced the defense signing more and potentially better players than they have actually lost. As for the loss of Robert Skov, they were quick to sign the young talented Spanish attacking midfielder Pep Biel from Real Zaragoza. He managed to score 6 goals and made 4 assists in 21 league games for Zaragoza last season and he seem to be a solid and suitable replacement, though it obviously will take som time for him to fully adapt, but then FCK also got other highly creative attacking midfielders, like Victor Fisher and Rasmus Falk. So this won't be the main issue against Red Star Belgrade, but how well the defense will hold up in the away leg. So far it has seemed solid, despite the changes that have been made. Judging by their present form, I would favor FCK to win the tie, mainly because they pretty much are able to field two teams of NT players, so they very often do rotation and so do not really get hurt by injuries or players being in poor form, because they have two players of equal quality and experience in every position, so if one is out or is not 100% in form, they will just field the one who is. Only top-5 league teams are able to do the same, while most of the bigger teams in smaller leagues, though having some good players, suffer from the lack of depth in most positions, which I suspect is also the case with Red Star Belgrade.
2019-20 Champions League Play-off Round draw : Young boys (Sui) v Red Star Belgrade (Srb)/FC København (Den) GNK Dinamo (Cro)/Ferencvaros (Hun) v Maribor (Svn)/Rosenborg (Nor)
Third qualifying round, Champions path : 1st leg : Red Star Belgrade (Srb) v FC København (Den), 1-1 1-0 Milan Pavkov (44") 1-1 Jonas Wind ('Panenka' pen. 84") Attendance: 40,812 match stats : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/red-star-belgrade_fc-copenhagen/statistik/spielbericht/3235662 Apart from a few defensive mistakes, it was a fairly good away performance by FCK against a team that is strong at home but do not really like to have possession, but mainly create danger through set pieces and counter attacks. So the job for FCK was to play as calmly as possible, and not to give away too many corners and free kicks, and then not to panic if being one goal behind. The first 45 minutes was pretty eventless with only few real opportunities, though all of them to Red Star and created by their captain Star player and former German International Marko Marin, who is just excellent at finding holes in a defense and passing the ball at the very right moment. Never the less, it seemed like a 0-0 at half-time when Red Star finally managed to score right before the break, due to some clumsy FCK defending and a deflection. But the 1-0 lead was deserved at that point in time because the FCK defense had not been quite up to their usual standard. Red Star seemed happy about their lead, but with the result that they gave away much too much possession to FCK in the 2nd half, probably thinking that it would lead to more counter attacks and then one or two more goals, but FCK did not fall into their "trap", but played it slow and calmly in midfield, thinking that they eventually would produce the one or two opportunities to score that one important away goal they were looking for, which then also happened at the end, as players were growing more tired in the 2nd half and fatal mistakes then often are bound to happen, which is how FCK usually win most of their games. We can argue that the referee seemed kind to FCK, giving them a rather "soft" penalty, which you most often do not get in important away games like this. But never the less, it was FCK's newly signed Spanish attacking midfielder Pep Biel showing his worth for the team by "creating" the penalty, while young Jonas Wind calmly delivered 'Panenka' style in the very same stadium Panenka converted the original penalty against Germany in the UEFA Euro Final back in 1976 : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_1976_Final Highlights : The original Panenka highlights : The 'Panenka' by Jonas Wind :
Third qualifying round, Champions path : 1st leg : Red Star Belgrade (Srb) v FC København (Den), 1-1 1-0 Milan Pavkov (44") 1-1 Jonas Wind ('Panenka' pen. 84") Attendance: 40,812 match stats : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/red-star-belgrade_fc-copenhagen/statistik/spielbericht/3235662 Maribor (Svn) v Rosenborg (Nor), 1-3 0-1 Alexander Søderlund (50) 0-2 Alexander Søderlund (64) 1-2 Marcos Tavares (70) 1-3 Mike Jensen (71) Attendance: around 10,000 match stats : https://www.transfermarkt.com/nk-maribor_rosenborg-bk/statistik/spielbericht/3237627 Rosenborg played a perfect away game in the 1st leg in Slovenia against Maribor where they, after a fairly eventless first 45 minutes, took the lead 5 minutes into the 2nd half, as Rosenborg veteran striker Alexander Soederlund scored from a brilliant free kick from almost 30 metres out. From that point on, the Slovenian Champions seemed highly shaken and never really got the opportunity to recover, with Søderlund making 2-0 to Rosenborg less than 15 minutes later by a header after a corner kick. Maribor then finally managed to reduce the lead, but to no effect since Rosenborgs likewise highly experienced Danish defensive midfielder, Mike Jensen, mad it 3-1 only a minute later. Maribor did try to push forward in the last 15 minutes or so, but Rosenborg were able to defend their lead and now seem to be more than close to qualify for the play-off's. 13 August: second legs
A return to Europe would be great for both Rosenborg and FCK! Both were a staple in the competition in the late 90s and early 2000s. It's such a money league and neither would be expected out of the group stage but it would be great nostalgia for me!
Third qualifying round, Champions path : 2nd leg : FC København (Den) v Red Star Belgrade (Srb), 1-1 AET ( agg: after pen. 7-8) 0-1 Richmond Boakye (17") 1-1 Dame N'Doye (45") Red card : Nemanja Milunovic, Red Star (55") Red card : Pep Biel, FCK (112") penalty Shoot-out: 6-7 (9 out of 22 attempts missed ) Attendance: 29.872 Match facts and penalty shoot-out : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/spielbericht/index/spielbericht/3235663 It was close, but no cigar for FCK in a match they really had every possible opportunity to win, not least considering the red card to Red Star early in the 2nd half and also considering that Red Star missed both their 1st and 3rd penalty in the penalty shoot-out, but it was just one of these days where you are simply not able to win, even when you seem to be on top. In any case FCK manager Solbakken, though being highly disappointed, said after the match that they probably will be better off playing Europa league this season, due to all the changes and new players who need to adapt. .. and I'm sure he is right, also with FCK losing both their captain in central defense Andreas Bjelland and their two key strikers Dame N'Doye and Jonas Wind to long-term injuries, so we are no longer just talking about the loss of Robert Skov in attack and also the sale of their other key centre-back Denis Vavro to Lazio. There is nothing wrong with the new replacements they have signed, but when you sign some of them just a few days before important Europa cup qualifiers, they have had no time to adapt and this is the problem FCK face right now, with too many changes in defense and attack and no time for the replacements to adapt, though they should still be able to qualify for the Europa League group stage. Highlights: Rosenborg (Nor) v Maribor (Svn), 3-1 (agg : 6-2) 0-1 Rudi Pozeg Vancas (45) 1-1 Alexander Søderlund (53) 2-1 Anders Konradsen (61) 3-1 Anders Konradsen (81) Attendance: 18,564 match stats : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/rosenborg-bk_nk-maribor/statistik/spielbericht/3237628 Unlike FCK, Rosenborg had no problem getting past Maribor from Slovenia. Highlights : 2019-20 Champions League Play-off Round : GNK Dinamo (Cro) v Rosenborg (Nor)
2019-20 Champions League Play-off Round : 1st leg : GNK Dinamo (Cro) v Rosenborg (Nor), 2-0 1-0 Bruno Petkovic (pen. 8) 2-0 Mislav Orsic (28) Attendance: 23,859 match stats : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/gnk-dinamo-zagreb_rosenborg-bk/statistik/spielbericht/3244658 2nd leg : Rosenborg (Nor) v GNK Dinamo (Cro), 1-1 (agg: 1-3) 1-0 Babajide David (11) 1-1 Amer Gojak (71) Attendance: 18,173 match stats : https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/rosenborg-bk_gnk-dinamo-zagreb/statistik/spielbericht/3244659 Rosenborg were not able to recover from the 0-2 away loss in Zagreb, so no Scandinavian clubs in this season Champions League group stage, but at least Rosenborg are now sure be in the Europa League in stead.