KI Klaksvik will welcome FC Differdange 03 to the Djupumyra Stadium on Wednesday for the first leg of their tie in the first round of Champions League qualifying.
The hosts dropped out of qualifying in the third round last year and featured in the Europa Conference League group stage, while their visitors have not turned out in Europe's top competition since 1980.
Match preview
KI Klaksvik will kick off their latest continental qualifying bid on Wednesday, having gone within two rounds of reaching the Champions League group stage while becoming the first Faroese side to play in any European group football last season.
They began at this stage and comfortably saw off Ferencvaros and scraped past Swedish outfit Hacken in a penalty shootout, setting up a tricky third-round tie with Molde which ended in a narrow 3-2 aggregate defeat after extra time in the second leg.
After then falling just short in a Europa League playoff round tie with Sheriff Tiraspol, suffering another 3-2 defeat over two legs, the Faroese champions dropped into the Europa Conference League group stage and bowed out after a first-ever group campaign, finishing fourth having earned four points from their six matches.
After going on to win a third straight Faroe Islands Premier League title in 2023, Espen Haug's team now return to continental action in the midst of their latest domestic campaign, currently sitting third after 16 games with a nine-point gap up to top spot, and they find themselves on the back of consecutive victories, most recently beating B36 Torshavn 4-2 on Thursday thanks to goals from Arni Frederiksberg, Joseph Williams and Pall Klettskard alongside a Thomas Lillo own goal.
With renewed momentum from those results after a disappointing start to their title defence, KI Klaksvik will now bid to start their continental campaign on the front foot and take a lead into next week's away leg with their sights set on again progressing through the second round of Champions League qualifying.
In their way stand a visiting side who will look to pick up a first continental qualifying aggregate victory since 2015 to book their place in the second round after their domestic triumph last year.
FC Differdange 03's last action on the continent has come in Europa Conference League qualifying over the previous two seasons, but both bids were halted at the first hurdle, having fallen to Olimpia Ljubljana in the first round in the 2022-23 campaign before meeting Maribor on their entry in the second round last year.
After being held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg of that tie, the Luxembourgian outfit fell agonisingly short in the second meeting, eventually losing 4-3 on the night after extra time to again fail to progress in qualifying.
It was not a season without glory for Pedro Resende's side, though, as they went on to regain the Luxembourg First Division title for the first time since 1979, despite the campaign culminating in a draw and a defeat in May, as they finished top on 66 points from 30 outings, five clear of second place.
Such a result sealed FC Differdange 03's return to Champions League qualifying, and they will look to take a step closer to European league-phase football in their first-round tie, starting with what would be an impressive result on their travels.
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Team News
KI Klaksvik should field a similar starting XI to their 4-2 league victory on Thursday, with Pall Klettskard bound to again lead the attack having netted 16 goals in 18 domestic appearances this season to move on to 213 for the club.
Arni Frederiksberg is another key man going forward, having contributed six goals and six assists in his 18 appearances so far this term, while Joseph Williams will also fight to start up front again having opened his account in his second game for the club last week after arriving from Arendal in June.
David Andreasen and Rene Joensen will both compete to come into the midfield from the start, while Alexander Berntsson and Cedric Yambere should continue their partnership in the middle of the defence.
Differdange's attack will be led by talismanic Portuguese forward Jorginho, who notched up 28 goals in 32 appearances across all competitions in his debut campaign for the Luxembourgian outfit last season.
They finished the domestic term in a 3-5-2 setup, with Andreas Buch, Adham El Idrissi and Federico Andrada fighting to join Jorginho up top, while Guillaume Trani could offer further support through the centre having contributed 13 goals of his own last term, with Ludovic Rauch and Manuel Pami remaining key men in the midfield.
KI Klaksvik possible starting lineup:
Jensen; Danielsen, Berntsson, Yambere, Da Silva; Frederiksberg, Joensen, Ejupi, Soylu; Williams, Klettskard
FC Differdange 03 possible starting lineup:
Da Costa; D'Anzico, Franzoni, Bedouret; Bei, Rauch, Pami, Rychelmy; Trani; Jorginho, Andrada
We say: KI Klaksvik 2-0 FC Differdange 03
With home advantage and more momentum in the midst of their league campaign and following consecutive victories, we back KI Klaksvik to come out on top on Wednesday and build a healthy lead ahead of next week's second leg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Sam Varley
