Lukko, who cleared his way to the top four in Europe, will start the CHL semi-finals in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.
Rauman Lukko will play the first leg of the semi-finals of the hockey Champions League (CHL) against Switzerland’s reigning champion Geneve-Servette in the away arena on Tuesday. The match starts at 21:15.
Luko is familiar with the high-class opponent, as the teams met each other in the preliminary series. At that time, Lukko was better at home with goals 3–2.
– The match played in Rauma was a different game, because neither team had any input when the playoff spots were already in the pocket, points out Luko’s head coach Tomi Lämsa.
The Finnish coach is happy that Lukko has cleared his way to the semi-finals with hard work. Last spring’s Swiss champions are a quality and experienced team that has won their last four games in their own league.
– With the first match, we got first-hand information about what kind of group is coming against them. Now we get to measure our level and fight for a place in the finals, there’s nothing better than that, Lämsä glows in the CHL newsletter.
The previous meeting between the teams was in October. The earlier victory boosts Luko’s self-confidence when going into the match.
– It’s been a long time since the last game, but it brought confidence under that own sweater. It was also important that we saw their weaknesses and what we could attack, Lämsä states.
Vatanen, Filppula, Manninen and Hartikainen
Lukko is the only team defending the blue and white colors and is the third Finnish team aiming to conquer Europe. Previously, JYP won the CHL championship in 2018 and Tappara celebrated the victory last year.
– We are going to get a joint result from these two matches that will take us to the final, and winning there is the big dream, Lämsä paints.
Lukko has knocked down Austria’s Innsbruck and Czech Pardubice in the playoff stage. Geneve-Servette, on the other hand, has ended the dreams of DEL champion Munich and SHL champion Växjö for the CHL trophy.
Six Finns play in the ranks of Geneva-Servette; keeper Jussi Olkinuoradefenders Sami Vatanen and Julius Honka and attackers Sakari Manninen, Teemu Hartikainen and Valtteri Filppula.
Last Saturday, Servette ended Davos’ winning streak in the Swiss series with a 4–3 away win. The overtime goal was completed by Honka Manninen and Hartikainen.
The second leg will be played in Rauma on Tuesday, January 16. In the second semi-final pair, the Czech team Vitkovice and the Swedish team Skellefteå will meet.