June 22 & 25, 2021
Since the 2018/19 season, UEFA have introduced a preliminary qualifying round to the Champions League whereby the champions of the four lowest ranked countries based on UEFA coefficients enter a play-off competition, with the winner proceeding to the CL first qualifying round, with the 3 losers dropping to the Europa League second qualifying round. From 2021/22 the 3 losers now drop to the Europa Conference second qualifying round.
In 2018 and 2019 the champions of Kosovo, Gibraltar, Andorra and San Marino participated in the preliminary round, and last year the champions of Northern Ireland were forced to enter in place of the champions of Gibraltar.
For 2021/22 the participants were FC Prishtina from Kosovo, Havnar Boltfelag ( HB ) from the Faroe Islands, Inter Club d’Escaldes from Andorra and Folgore from San Marino. The tournament was originally due to be played in the Faroe Islands, but an outbreak of Covid forced the matches to be switched to Albania, with all matches played behind closed doors.
In the semi-finals, Prishtina recorded an 2-0 victory over Folgore, thanks to second half goals from Endrit Krasniqi in the 55th minute, and substitute Hoti in added on time. However, the Faroes champions HB unexpectedly lost 0-1 to Inter Club d’Escaldes thanks to an acrobatic finished from Betriu in the 60th minute. Ironically the strong performances of their sides in the 2020/21 European competitions meant that the next champions of the Faroe Islands will not have to participate in the 2022/23 qualifying competition, nor will the Kosovo champions. Instead, the champions of Iceland, Estonia, Andorra and San Marino will be the competitors.
TV coverage by UEFA of the preliminary round has historically been poor, with the semi-finals of the 2020/21 not even being available anywhere, but at least the HB vs Inter Club d’Escaldes match was streamed on the Andorran side’s Facebook page. The final though didn’t seem to be available to watch from the UK via any legitimate means, and highlights have not been posted on any YouTube channel or the UEFA website at the time of writing.
Prishtina had no players in the Kosovo squad for their recent game versus Gambia in June ( a 1-0 win ) but uncapped Albanian born Gledi Mici ( Albanian U17 and ex Flamutari ), Lumbardh Dellova, Endrit Krasniqi & Leonit Abazi ( MF 1 cap ) were selected but withdrawn by their club as apart of their preparation for the CL matches.
The Prishtina squad also includes Leotrim Kreyeziu, who is on loan from Lugano, and Nigerian striker Otto John, who has previously played for Skenderbeu in Albania, and was their top league scorer in 2020/21 with 10 goals. Midfielder Sabien Lilaj has 16 Albanian caps and has previously played for Lokomotiva Zagreb.
Prishtina have won the Kosovo championship a record 11 times although 2020/21 was their first triumph since 2012/13. They finished 2 points clear of previous champions Drita, clinching the title with a game to spare. They play their home matches in the 13,500 capacity Fadil Vokrri stadium, which is also the home of the national team.
Inter Club d’Escaldes played in the 2020/21 CL eliminators but lost 1-2 to Drita from Kosovo, and then subsequently lost to Dundalk in the Europa League. They have no fixed home ground, like all sides in the Andorran Primera Division, matches are spread across the three main stadiums in the country.
Inter had 6 players called-up to Andorra’s most recent national squad – keeper Josep Gomes ( 74 caps ), defender Ildefons Lima ( 41 year old record holder for most caps and goals with 130 caps and 11 goals ), midfielders Marc Pujol ( 95 caps ), Cristian Martinez and Sergi Moreno ( both 72 caps ) and Ludovic Clemente ( 45 caps )
Argentinian defender Frederico Bessone has previously played for Swansea, Millwall, Charlton, Leeds and Swindon amongst others. Most of the rest of their squad is Spanish.
The match was played at the Elbasan Arena in Elbasan, Albania’s fourth largest city located around 50km south of the capital Tirana, with the temperature at kick-off of 35 degrees. Bet365 had Prishtina 1-3 favourites, with Inter 9-1 rank outsiders.
Prishtina made three changes from the semi-final Leotrim Bekteshi replaced Bardhoku in the centre of defence, Shabani replaced Congolese Gauthier Makenda in midfield and Mendurim Hoti replaced John upfront. Inter made one change, Gomis coming in for Grau in midfield.
The match went pretty match in accordance with the bookies’ expectations. Endrit Krasniqi again opened the goal scoring, this time on the stroke of half-time, and he wrapped up their victory by adding a second goal in the 58th minute.
It was the third time in four years that the Kosovan representative has won the mini-tournament and Prishtina have the dubious privilege of playing Ferencvaros in the next round.
Dropping down the Europa Conference, Inter will play the losers of the Champions League First Qualifying round match between Teuta Durres of Albania and Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol .
HB will play the losers between HJK Helsinki or Montenegrin side FK Buducnost, whilst Folgore face a tie against the losers of Flora Tallinn from Estonia or Maltese side Hibernians.
Prishtina : Nika – B.Krasniqi, Bekteshi, Dellova, Mici – Shabani (Makenda ), Boshnjaku, Lilaj ( John ), E. Krasniqi ( Bardhoku ) – Kryeziu, Hoti ( Zyba )
Inter Club d’Escaldes : Gomes – Gallego, Garcia, Bessone ( Lima ), de Nova – Gomis ( Roca ), Betriu ( Parades ), Moreno ( Clemente ), Soldevila, Bosch ( Lao ) - Artigas
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