This season’s Champions League has yet to be decided, but at the same time, the preliminary round of the new season has already started. In the first qualifying round, the Hungarian and Swedish champions meet in Budapest.
Ferencvaros:
Ferencvaros has traditionally been one of the largest clubs in Hungary, but in recent years the team from Budapest had to leave the title to MOL Fehervar (previously Videoton) several times. The last two seasons Ferencvaros crowned itself again as the best club in the country. With 76 points from 33 games, the lead over Fehervar was no less than 13 points.
In Europe Hungarian teams hardly play a significant role. It was quite exceptional that Ferencvaros reached the group stage of the Eruopa League last season. The team made an impression in this, by losing only once in a group with Ludogorets, CSKA Moscow and Espanyol, but because there was also only won once (and thus was played four times), the points score of 7 was only good for a third place.
Djurgaarden:
Djurgarden from Stockholm won a Swedish league title again last season for the first time since 2005. This happened after a blood-curdling title battle with fellow townspeople AIK Solna and Hammarby and top club Malmo FF. The differences were narrow: as champion with 66 points, Djurgarden can prepare for the preliminary round of the Champions League while the number four AIK grabs everything.
Given by the seasons, the Allsvenskan follows the calendar year. This means that Djurgarden is the reigning champion of the 2019 season and that the new 2020 season is almost halfway through. After 16 games, Kim Bergstand’s team occupies third place with 29 points, six minutes below leader Malmo FF.
Djurgardens, where Norwegian midfielder Fredrik Ulvestad is the most important player, has no long European history. The last preliminary round Champions League match dates from 14 years ago, when the Slovakian Ruzomberok lost two matches. Two years ago, Djurgarden was eliminated in extra time by the Ukrainian Mariupol in the preliminary round of the Europa League.
PREDICTION: Both teams to score / YES @ 1,89
