After Molde ended KÍ Klaksvík’s Champions League winning streak last week, KÍ is heading for the UEFA Europa League playoffs.
Having beaten Hungarian champions Ferencváros and Swedish champions BK Häcken, KÍ Klaksvík made history by becoming the first Faroese team ever to advance to the group-stage of the UEFA Champions League. The team stunned the world again by beating Norwegian champions Molde on August 8th, but unfortunately lost the second match a week later, on August 15th—it was a close match, however, that ended in a defeat with dignity.
The first match between KÍ and Molde ended 2-1 in favor of the Faroese team, whereas the second match ended with a score of 2-0 in favor of the Norwegian team, after Molde’s Kristian Eriksen put Molde in the lead 17 minutes in, and Martin Linnes secured the win with another goal in the extended palying time, 112 minutes into the match, resulting in a combined score of 3-2.
Although the Champions League adventure is over, KÍ Klaksvík’s first Europa League playoff fixture waits just around the corner, a face off against Moldova’s Sheriff Tiraspol in Tórshavn on Thursday. A week later, the teams will play again in Moldova.
The winning team will advance to the Europa League group stage, while the Europa Conference League groupstage awaits the losing team.
Sheriff Tiraspol have won their domestic championship tournament 21 times in the past 23 years; two years ago the team secured a stunning 2-1 victory against Real Madrid in the Spanish capital.
