HJK take on the visitors Betis in the round 1 match of UEFA Europa League group stage. The match will be played on Thursday, September 8th at Bolt Arena (Helsinki).
HJK remains the strongest club in the country. The "Club" often wins the national Veikkausliga. And so it was in 2021, and even now it turns out to butt heads on a par with another division favorite - KuPS. At the same time, serious tasks are set for European competitions. At one time, it even turned out to play in the group stage of the Champions League. But mostly the Finns are getting knocked out in qualifying rounds. This is how it happened now, when, after straining through the RFU, the Scandinavians lost without options to Viktoria Plzen. At the same time, Tony Koskel's wards in the summer in the Europa League qualification were able to knock out serious opponents, Maribor and Silkeborg.
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Betis under Pellegrini quickly and strongly improves. The "Cucumbers" for a long time were in the shadow of their neighbors and rival Sevilla. Moreover, with ambition and a good selection of players, it was not possible to really break into European competitions. It was possible to reach a qualitatively new level in recent years, after Manuel Pellegrini returned to Spain. "Engineer" showed class, immediately raising new wards in the Europa League. In the last temporade, it turned out to be worthy to perform there, and in the league to rise even higher, to 5th place. And even win the title, Copa del Rey. Now, realizing that the "White Andalusia" in fever, "beticos" are obviously thinking about the fight for 4th place in the LaLiga and, therefore, for the opportunity to get a "ticket" to the Champions League. Moreover, the start of Borja Iglesias and the company turned out to be good. Most likely, the priority so far will be the championship. But the depth of the team is solid, so there will be someone to play in the Europa League.
HJK often start in European competition but rarely stay there. And Betis, with strength and ambition, is still a rare guest. So it is logical that in this match the Finns and the Spaniards will cross each other for the first time. HJK still has a ceiling of possibilities, and it is not high. Betis, not even in the optimal line-up, will be able to win both in the 1st half and in the whole match.
Prediction for the match: Betis to win the first half and the match.
