Sparta Praha’s credit player Kaan Kairinen aims to lead his team to a new league stage. Niklas Moisander watches Malmö’s decisive qualifying matches from the sidelines.
Finnish national team player Kairinen too team Sparta Praha or former national team captain by Niklas Moisander Malmö, represented by
Kairinen, who returned to full playing condition after last spring’s injury, played the full minutes in the midfield when Sparta Prague defeated the Romanian FCSB 3-2 away from home in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The Czech team won the pair of matches with a total of 4–3.
In the final and decisive playoff round of the qualifiers, Kairinen and Sparta will face Sweden’s top club Malmö, who won 4–3 over PAOK after extra time in Greece. The total goals were scored for Malmö 6–5.
Moisander, 38, has had a very uneventful season as the defender has only played two Allsvenskan matches this season in July. At the beginning of August, Malmö announced that Moisander will undergo knee surgery.
Malmö and Sparta Praha will meet in a pair of matches on August 21 and 27.
Casper Terhon Union Saint-Gilloise, represented by Saint-Gilloine’s European qualifiers ended this summer, but the team got a place in the league stage of the Europa League.
Hradecky and Sinisalo
The Champions League will definitely see Finnish goalkeeper skills in the coming season, because Lukas Hradecky and Viljami Sinisalon the clubs have secured access to the league stage.
Hradecky’s German team Leverkusen won the Bundesliga championship last season without a single defeat. Although Hradecky didn’t play a single European game last season, the Czech keeper was responsible for the saves in the Europa League Matej Kovar.
In the summer, Sinisalo moved to the Scottish champion team Celtic, who also got a direct place in the league stage.
The UEFA club competitions, the Champions League, the Europa League and the Conference League, will be played in the 2024–2025 season with a new game system. The traditional four-team groups have been ditched, with a 36-team league stage in place across all three competitions. The number of teams increases by four in all competitions.
In the Champions League, each team plays eight matches in the league stage. The eight best teams in the league stage advance directly to the quarterfinals, those ranked 9–24 play in playoff pairs for a place in the quarterfinals.