Champions League Quali, Playoffs, First leg, Wednesday, 21.08.2024 at 21:00
Both clubs have a golden opportunity in the 2024/25 Champions League playoffs.
For the Eastern European club, progressing against this – on paper – beatable opponent would represent a historic highlight, as it would allow them to qualify for the group stage of the top flight for the first time.
However, if things go “normally”, the Danes will win the first leg. At least that’s what I’m assuming in my Midtjylland Slovan Bratislava tip, which is freely available to you
Midtjylland is once again the strongest power in Denmark! After a nightmarish 2022/23 season that forced them to an embarrassing participation in the relegation group, they managed to ascend the league throne again last season.
And it could go on like this! Because in the season that has just begun, FCM, together with long-term rivals Copenhagen and Nordsjaelland, is only one of three clubs that are still unbeaten after five matchdays (3 wins, 2 draws).
However, coach Thomas Thomasberg’s focus is definitely also on making the club’s management happy with an international advance to the main round of the top flight.
Especially since the “Ulveni” failed to qualify for one of the three UEFA competitions for the first time since 2019/20 last season
FCM is primarily known for its excellent scouting, which other clubs could take a leaf out of their book. This season, however, a surprising amount of money was spent on signing ready-made players.
Adam Buksa (Lens), Denil Castillo (Donetsk) and Ousmane Diao (Mafra) joined the “Ulveni” for a disproportionate amount of money in order to strengthen them along the entire central axis – with success.
Not only are all three new signings already part of the starting line-up, Adam Buksa even scored a crucial goal in the 2:0 home win against Ferencvaros, which was essential to secure a place in the Champions League play-offs
The fact that Midtjylland beat Ferencvaros at home is no coincidence. This brings us to the striking discrepancy between the Danes’ European Cup home and away record in my Midtjylland Slovan Bratislava betting tip.
Watch out: FCM have only lost one of their last nine European Cup matches at home on the international stage – including the qualifying phase – and have even managed to beat teams such as Lazio Roma (5:1) and Sturm Graz (2:0).
However, during this period, only one victory was celebrated in each of these outings, and it is not really worth mentioning. After all, beating Santa Coloma 3-0 in the 2nd round of the qualifying phase is no mean feat
The bottom line is that Midtjylland have won five of their last six European Cup home games, three of them by the skin of their teeth.
Boosted by the excellent start to the league and the useful new signings, a home win bet is naturally my first choice in the Sunmaker app.
The Midtjylland Slovan Bratislava odds that are being traded in this regard are around 1.70, which is basically acceptable, even if I had personally hoped for a slightly higher offer.
Slovan Bratislava, meanwhile, are the poster boys of Slovakian soccer, having now won the domestic league competition for the sixth time in a row.
But on the international stage? Until the introduction of the Conference League, the Slovaks had only reached the group stage of the Europa League once, while the top flight has always been no more than a vague dream for them.
Bratislava have reached the Conference League group stage three times in the last three years and even survived it in the previous season, but matches against absolute top teams are probably coming a little too soon for this club
I don’t want to denigrate the Slovakians’ progress through the qualifying phase of the top flight so far, but Bratislava certainly can’t complain about too much bad luck.
The only opponents so far have been Struga, Celje and APOEL Nicosia, who they overcame 6:3, 6:1 and 2:0 respectively.
This means that the “Belasi” have been involved since the first round of qualifying and experience shows that such clubs rarely make it into the group stage
This is the first ever match-up between the two clubs, but it should be obvious why the strong Danes should be in the driving seat – at least in this first leg.
Although I could easily come to terms with the Midtjylland odds for a home win discussed earlier, I am also deliberately considering the possibility of an additional under-3.5-goal option in addition to an odds boost.
Midtjylland is a defensively solid team that tries to win games from an orderly defense.
In any case, they are unbeaten in six competitive matches and none of them have produced more than a maximum of 3.5 goals
Conclusion: I don’t expect the visitors to have much to say.
They are already playing at the upper limit of their footballing ability and have only made it to the play-offs in the top flight for the first time since the 2014/15 season because the tournament tree was relatively light.
FC Midtjylland, meanwhile, made some fantastic transfers in the summer, which have really hit the mark and made the team even stronger compared to the previous season – which was already “championship-winning”.
My Midtjylland Slovan Bratislava tip: Victory for FCM & Under 3.5 goals
