FC Midtjylland welcome Slovan Bratislava to MCH Arena for the first leg of their Champions League playoff tie on Wednesday night. The winners of this two-legged tie will qualify for the newly-expanded 36-team Champions League, while the losers will drop down into the Europa League.
Midtjylland are vying to progress to the Champions League proper for just the second time in their history after competing in the 2020-21 group stage. They could only manage 2 draws in that group stage that they shared with Liverpool, Atalanta and Ajax in 2020-21. 1-1 against the Reds and the same result away to Bergamo.
Last season's Danish SuperLiga champions cruised to a 4-0 aggregate win over UE Santa Coloma in the Champions League second qualifying round at the end of last month, before edging past Ferencvaros over two legs last week. Goals from Adam Buksa and Franculino Dju sealed a 2-0 first-leg win on home soil, before Oliver Sorensen cancelled out Ibrahim Cisse's early opener to rescue a 1-1 second-leg draw in Hungary last Tuesday and advance 3-1 on aggregate.
Thomas Thomasberg's side have since extended their impressive unbeaten run across all competitions to nine matches, winning five of their last six including a 2-1 away victory over Lyngby in the Danish Superliga. Sitting third in the top flight after five matches and just one point behind leaders Silkeborg, Midtjylland will now shift their attention back to the Champions League, aiming to win their fifth successive home game in all competitions as they endeavour to take control of their playoff tie with Slovan Bratislava.
Slovan Bratislava have also enjoyed a strong start to the new season having won seven and drawn two of their opening nine matches in all competitions, scoring 21 goals in the process. The reigning Slovak First Football League champions have navigated their way past Struga, Celje and APOEL to reach the Champions League playoff round, beating the latter 2-0 on aggregate in the third qualifying round last week. An own goal followed by a stoppage-time strike from Robert Mak secured a 2-0 first-leg home win for Slovan Bratislava, before they played out a goalless stalemate in the reverse fixture in Cyprus last Tuesday.
Vladimir Weiss's men have since continued their perfect start on the domestic front, beating FC Kosice 2-1 on Saturday, courtesy of a 90th-minute winner from Tigran Barseghyan, to remain top of the Slovak First Football League after three games. Slovan Bratislava are now bidding to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since reaching the second round back in 1992-93 when the competition was rebranded from the European Cup to its current name.
Midtjylland Team News
Midtjylland are still having to cope without the services of midfielder Kristoffer Olsson, who was diagnosed with several small blood clots in the brain due to a rare blood-vessel inflammation earlier this year. Paulinho, Cho Gue-sung and Marrony are all sidelined with knee injuries, while Victor Bak and Christian Sorensen are both doubtful with unspecified issues; the former has missed the last six games, while the latter was forced off midway through the first half against Lyngby.
Oliver Sorensen and new signing Adam Buska have scored seven goals between them so far this season and after being rested last weekend, they are both expected to start on Wednesday.
Slovan Bratislava Team News
As for Slovan Bratislava, they will be without Lukas Pauschek and Adler as they continue to recover from respective shoulder and shin injuries. Weiss is set to recall his son and namesake Vladimir Weiss, who could join Robert Mak and David Strelec - who have scored nine goals between them so far this term season - in a three-man attack, meaning that Barseghyan may drop down to the substitutes' bench.
Predicted Lineups
FC Midtjylland possible starting lineup: Olafsson; Andersson, Diao, Bech Sorensen, Juninho; Osorio, Martinez, Castillo, O. Sorensen; Dju, Buksa
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup: Takac; Blackman, Kashia, Wimmer, Sharani; Kucka, Bajric, Tolic; Weiss, Strelec, Mak
Match Preview
Both teams have looked strong in the opening stages of the new season, both domestically and in Europe, but as there is little to separate these two in-form teams, we can see the spoils being shared in an entertaining score draw, keeping the tie nicely poised ahead of next week's second leg in Slovakia.
How to Watch Midtjylland vs. Slovan Bratislava
Midtjylland will face Slovan Bratislava in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs at the MCH Arena on Wednesday. The hosts have won four out of their last five matches and will be confident of a good result in the first leg in front of their fans. APOEL Nicosia held the visitors to a goalless draw in the last game but they will be hoping to get back to winning ways in what will be a difficult challenge away from home.
The match will be played at the MCH Arena on Wednesday, with kick-off at 3 pm EST for fans in the US.
The match will be shown live on Paramount+ and ViX in the US. Live updates can be found here on GOAL.
If you are abroad, you may need to use a virtual private network (VPN) in order to watch games using your usual streaming service. A VPN, such as NordVPN, allows you to establish a secure connection online when streaming. If you are not sure which VPN to use, check out GOAL's guide to the best VPNs for streaming sport.
Team News
Midtjylland continue to be without midfielder Kristoffer Olsson, who has been ruled out due to an injury. Paulinho, Cho Gue-sung, and Marrony are all sidelined with knee injuries, while Victor Bak and Christian Sørensen remain doubtful due to injury concerns.
Midtjylland predicted XI: Olafsson; Andersson, Diao, Bech Sorensen, Juninho; Osorio, Martinez, Castillo, O. Sorensen; Dju, Buksa.
On the Slovan Bratislava side, Lukas Pauschek and Adler are unavailable as they recover from shoulder and shin injuries, respectively. They have no other injury concerns ahead of their away game against Midtjylland.
Bratislava predicted XI: Takac; Blackman, Kashia, Wimmer, Sharani; Kucka, Bajric, Tolic; Weiss, Strelec, Mak.
Prediction and Betting Tips
Midtjylland have made a 10-game unbeaten start to the season. The Wolves have tended to struggle on their travels on the continent so a positive result in front of their fans could be crucial to their hopes of advancing. Slovan Bratislava have never made it to the Champions League proper but are unbeaten in three away European games played this season (two draws).
We are backing the home side to claim a routine victory and clean sheet.
Prediction: Midtjylland 2-0 Slovan Bratislava
Tip 1 - Midtjylland to win
Tip 2 - Both teams to score: No
Tip 3 - Under 2.5 goals
What to Expect
This match will be the first-ever meeting between these two teams. Midtjylland and Slovan Bratislava will trade tackles in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League playoff tie on Wednesday. The home side are coming into the game on the back of a 2-1 away win over Lyngby in the Danish Superliga on Friday.
All three goals were scored in the second half, with Franculino putting the visitors ahead in the 64th minute while Lauge Sandgrav drew the game level nine minutes later. Aral Simsir scored the match-winner in the seventh minute of injury time.
The Wolves will turn their focus back to the continent, where they booked their spot in the playoff with a 3-1 aggregate win over Ferencvaros in the last round of the qualifiers. A 2-0 home win was followed by a 1-1 draw in Hungary.
Slovan, meanwhile, claimed maximum points with a 2-1 comeback home win over Kosice in the Slovakian Nike Liga. They went into the break behind courtesy of Zan Medved's 15th-minute penalty. David Strelec stepped off the bench to equalize in the 52nd minute while Tigren Barseghyan scored the match-winner in injury time.
The Sky Blues secured their spot in the Champions League playoff with a 2-0 aggregate win over APOEL. A 2-0 home win was followed by a goalless draw in Cyprus.
The winner of this tie advances to the Champions League league phase while the losers are transferred to the UEFA Europa League.
