Hungarian giants Ferencvaros welcome Faroe Islands champions KI Klaksvik to the Groupama Arena for the second leg of their Champions League first-round qualifier on Wednesday evening.
The tie is finely poised after the two teams played a goalless draw in the first leg at the Djupumyra Stadium last week.
Match preview
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Following a somewhat mixed pre-season campaign between the middle of June and early-July, winning two, drawing two and losing one of their five friendly fixtures, Ferencvaros were unable to come out on top against KI in their first competitive match of the new season last week.
Despite dominating proceedings with 69% possession, only four of the Greens' 10 shots managed to hit the target, and they ultimately struggled to break down a resilient KI backline.
Ferencvaros, who won their 34th Hungarian top-flight title last season, are competing in the Champions League qualifiers for the fifth year in a row and have progressed beyond the second round in each of the previous four seasons.
Stanislav Cherchesov's side were beaten in the third qualifying round by Qarabag FK last year before surprisingly topping Group H of the Europa League ahead of Monaco to reach the last 16 – reaching the knockout rounds of European competition for he first time in nearly half a century. However, their continental journey was ended when they lost 4-0 on aggregate to Bayer Leverkusen.
Ferencvaros are hoping to get the job done on home soil on Wednesday as they seek to enjoy a successful Champions League qualification campaign this time around and reach the group stage for the third time in their history, having previously qualified in 1995-96 and 2020-21.
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Success on Wednesday is not a given, though, when they lock horns with 20-time Faroe Islands champions KI who travel to Hungary in exceptional form having only lost one of their 19 competitive matches in 2023.
Magne Hoseth's have made a perfect start to the defence of their top-flight title, winning each of their first 16 league matches by an aggregate score of 44-8, and they currently sit 12 points clear at the top of the table.
Their only setback thus far in 2023 was a 2-0 away defeat to B36 in April in the last 16 of the Faroe Islands Cup, but since then they have won each of their last six away games, scoring 21 goals in the process.
KI are competing in the Champions League qualifiers for just the fifth time in their 118-year history and they have only ever progressed to the second round once before, doing so four year ago when they were beaten 3-1 by Young Boys.
The winners of this contest between Ferencvaros and KI will take on either Swedish side Hacken or Welsh outfit The New Saints in the second qualifying round at the end of this month.
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Team News
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Only four of Ferencvaros' 10 summer signings featured in the first leg – Ibrahim Cisse, Peter Barath, Barnabas Varga all made their debuts from the start and Cebrail Makreckis came on as a second-half substitute, while Mohammed Abu Fani watched the entire match from the bench. All five players are in contention to play in the second leg.
However, Aleksandar Pesic is doubtful with a shoulder problem, while it remains to be seen whether fellow new recruits Cristian Ramirez, Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane, Tosin Kehinde and Adam Halmai, who were not involved last week, will feature in Wednesday's matchday squad.
Striker Ryan Mmaee is also an injury doubt, so Varga could keep his spot in the front three with Marquinhos and Adama Traore, the latter of whom scored 18 goals in all competitions last season.
As for KI, centre-back Odmar Faero served a one-match continental ban last week, but he is available to return on Wednesday and could join Heini Vatnsdal and Vegard Forren in the back three, with Borge Petersen potentially making way.
The visitors are still having to cope without injured top scorer Pall Klettskard, who has netted 17 times in 21 games in 2023, so either Luc Kassi, Sivert Gussias or Arni Frederiksberg could be tasked with leading the line.
Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Botka, S. Mmaee, Cisse, Civic; Esiti, Barath; Zachariassen; Marquinhos, Varga, Traore
KI Klaksvik possible starting lineup:
Johansson; Pavlovic, Vatnsdal, Faero; Joensen, Andreasen, Pavlovic, Da Silva; Frederiksberg, Gussias, Kronberg
We say: Ferencvaros 1-0 KI Klaksvik (Ferencvaros to win 1-0 on aggregate)
Following a closely-fought first leg last week, another tight affair could be on the cards on Wednesday, but Ferencvaros will be regarded as the favourites on home soil and we believe that they will find a way to break down KI to claim a slender second-leg victory.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
