Crusaders take on the visitors Haka in the second leg of UEFA Conference League qualification round of 1/8-finals. First leg result: 2-2. The match will be played on Thursday, July 20th at Seaview (Belfast).
Crusaders start the season with optimism. The Hatchets, having won the championship titles three times between 2015 and 2018, bringing the total number of such successes to 7. One less time they lifted the Northern Ireland Cup, but that also happened last year and in the spring of 2023. As a result, the club that finished only 4th in the Premiership is once again heading to European competitions. There, however, they had modest results – rarely did the Crusaders manage to overcome even one opponent. Nevertheless, in the 2020 Europa League, they first defeated B-36 Torshavn, after which they fell to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Last summer, after dealing with Brunos Magpies from Gibraltar, they were eliminated by Basel, although they managed to draw 1-1 with the prestigious Swiss team at home. This time, they drew again, but away.
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Haka will try to achieve on the road what they failed to do at home. The black and white team is a relatively well-known club by Finnish standards. It has never been a big powerhouse, but it has collected 9 championship titles and 12 national cups. However, all the recent trophies were won in the middle of the first decade of this century, in 2004-2005. In 2012, they finished last and left the Veikkausliiga. Moreover, they spent 7 consecutive years in the Ykkonen. Returning thanks to their victory in that division in 2019, they gradually managed to establish themselves there, and last season they even finished in 4th position. However, they are currently experiencing a sharp decline, and at the moment, only Mariehamn has worse results. With 13 points after 15 matches, they sit just one place above the bottom. Especially concerning is that they have gone 9 matches without a win – 5 defeats, 4 draws, and all matches played at home. Interestingly, they played a 2-2 draw with the visitors from Northern Ireland in an intriguing match, where the teams took turns leading the score, and the hosts finished with ten men after Laine received two yellow cards in the 65th and 66th minute.
As expected, these teams, who usually do not stay in European competitions for long, faced each other for the first time last week. Crusaders performed well even away from home. Well, when playing on their own field, one should expect this team to secure a victory in regular time.
Prediction for the match: Crusaders to win.
