Danish champions FC Midtjylland will face off against UE Santa Coloma in the second leg of their Champions League second-round tie at the MCH Arena in Herning on Wednesday evening.
The hosts secured a commanding 3-0 lead in Andorra last week and are 90 minutes away from a spot in the third round, where they are likely to face Ferencvaros, who are leading The New Saints 5-0.
Match preview
![Kristoffer Askildsen, Franculino and Aral Simsir of FC Midtjylland during a 3F Superliga match against Aarhus GF at Ceres Park Aarhus Ceres Park Denmark, July 19 [on July 21, 2024]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/29/kristoffer-askildsen-franculino-and-aral-simsir.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Kristoffer Askildsen, Franculino and Aral Simsir of FC Midtjylland during a 3F Superliga match against Aarhus GF at Ceres Park Aarhus Ceres Park Denmark, July 19 [on July 21, 2024]")
© Imago
Midtjylland edged Brondby by a single point to claim the Danish Superliga title for the first time since 2020 last term in a nail-biting campaign that came down to the final day of the season.
The Wolves have not made the best start to the current league season, though, playing out back-to-back draws, starting with a 1-1 stalemate to AGF and a 2-2 draw against Noordjaelland either side of last week's trip to Andorra.
However, they were much too good for Santa Coloma in the first leg, with Franculino Dju and Ousmane Diao finding the target to give them a 2-0 lead by the halftime break before Aral Simsir secured the side a three-goal advantage just after the hour-mark.
Midtjylland are aiming to return to the main draw of a European competition for the first time since the 2022-23 season when they ended second in their Europa League campaign before suffering a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Sporting Lisbon in the playoff round.
Thomas Thomasberg's side are yet to play a home game in any competition this season but ended last term unbeaten in their final four matches, during which they scored 10 goals while conceding eight.
Meanwhile, Santa Coloma had an excellent last season, winning the 1A Divisio by three points, losing just one league match in the process while securing a total of 20 victories.
With the Andorran top-flight season yet to get underway, the Squirrels came into the first round of this competition with limited preparation but pulled off an excellent comeback to secure their place in round two.
In the last round, Santa Coloma lost the first leg of qualifying to FC Balkany 2-1 but managed to surprise their opponents in the return match, securing a 2-1 victory and advancing to this round in a penalty shootout.
However, new boss Ramon Caldere's side were outplayed in almost every statistical category last week, managing just 43% possession on their home patch, while recording only three shots on target.
While the visitors are unbeaten in their last 16 away games in all competitions (W14 D2 L0), they are massive outsiders to turn the tide in this one.
Team News
![Thomas Thomasberg of FC Midtjylland during a 3F Superliga match against Aarhus GF at Ceres Park Aarhus Ceres Park Denmark, July 19 [on July 21]](https://sm.imgix.net/24/29/thomas-thomasberg_1.jpg?w=640&h=480&auto=compress,format&fit=clip "Thomas Thomasberg of FC Midtjylland during a 3F Superliga match against Aarhus GF at Ceres Park Aarhus Ceres Park Denmark, July 19 [on July 21]")
© Imago
Midtjylland have begun the new season without three first-team players in Paulinho, Gue-sung Cho and Marrony, all of whom are suffering from knee injuries and are only expected back next month.
The Danish champions secured the signing of young Nigerian striker Musiliu Olayinka Odekunle, who will be hoping to get his first taste of European qualifying action in midweek.
Santa Coloma have no known injury concerns for this match but Caldere may opt to bring in a few new players for this match following his side's tame performance at home last week.
Victor Tellado will be one of those who is expected to return to the starting 11 after coming off the bench and creating arguably his side's best chance of scoring in stoppage time when he unleashed a powerful shot just wide of the left-hand upright.
FC Midtjylland possible starting lineup:
Olafsson; Gabriel, Diao, Bech, Bak; Osorio, Castillo, Soerensen, Simsir; Buksa, Franculino
UE Santa Coloma possible starting lineup:
Navarro; Lopez, Chete, Garcia, Blasco; Molina, El Ghazoui, Mohedano; Bolivar, Tellado, Joaquinete
We say: FC Midtjylland 3-0 UE Santa Coloma
Having secured a comfortable lead in the first leg on the road, Midtjylland will return to Denmark this week feeling very good about their chances of progressing. Based on last week's performance, we feel the Danish champs will claim another impressive result in this one.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Devesh Jaganath
