The first qualifying round of the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League begins this week and on Wednesday the 7th of July we have the first leg meeting between FK Bodo/Glimt and Legia Warszawa.
The match will take place at the Aspmyra Stadion, giving the Norwegian team home advantage.
To dager igjen til vår aller første Champions League-kvalifisering! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ueQ4yHHasg— FK Bodø/Glimt (@Glimt) July 5, 2021
To dager igjen til vår aller første Champions League-kvalifisering! 👏 pic.twitter.com/ueQ4yHHasg
FK Bodo/Glimt come into this game having made a decent start to the defence of their Norwegian title and they are currently in second place, 2 points behind Molde.
However, having enjoyed a good start to the season, FK Bodo/Glimt have been struggling to pick up victories in recent matches and they have recorded just one win from their last 5 games.
There have been defeats at home against Molde and away to Sandefjord plus FK Bodo/Glimt were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Viking on the weekend in the Eliteserien.
This will be the first time FK Bodo/Glimt have played in the Champions League. They reached the third qualifying round of the Europa League last season and put in a strong performance but lost 3-2 against Italian giants, AC Milan.
You must then go back to the 2004/05 season to find the previous occasion FK Bodo/Glimt participated in a European competition and they fell at the second qualifying round of the Europa League.
Trends show FK Bodo/Glimt have failed to keep a clean sheet in each of their last 4 home matches, all of which have been in the Norwegian league.
Legia Warszawa are yet to start their domestic campaign in Poland and have been forced to rely on friendly matches to get themselves up to speed for this game.
They have played 5 friendlies, winning 3 of them, including each of the last 2 games against Lechia Gdańsk at home and Jagiellonia Białystok away.
The Polish league season does not begin until the 24th of July so Legia Warszawa will play both legs off this Champions League tie prior to that date.
You must go back to 2018 to find the last time Legia Warszawa competed in the Champions league and they went out at the second qualifying round. The damage was done in the first leg of their meeting with Spartak Trnava, which they lost 2-0 at home and despite winning the away leg 1-0, it was not enough.
However, Legia Warszawa have won 3 of their last 4 away Champions League fixtures, including each of the last two 1-0.
Team news and FK Bodo/Glimt have doubts over the fitness of Ola Solbakken. Both Sondre Sørli and Victor Boniface will miss the game due to long term injuries.
Legia Warszawa could be without Croatian defender Josip Juranović who was part of their European Championship squad. Every other player should be fit and available for the visitors.
FK Bodo/Glimt know they need to take advantage of playing the first leg at home but Legia Warszawa have proven they can get the job done on the road in Champions League qualifying.
The Polish club could easily come away with another 1-0 victory to their name, putting them in the driving seat ahead of the second leg.