July 8, 2025
The 2025/25 UEFA Champions League commenced today, just 38 days after the 2024/25 Final.
In the past two seasons, these diaries have covered the first match to be played in the Champions League First Qualifying Round.
In July 2023. Armenians FC Urartu conceded a late goal to lose 0-1 at home to Bosnian side HSK Zrinjski Mostar, whilst in July 2024 Lithuanian champions FK Panevezys caused a surprise with a 3-0 home win over HJK Helsinki.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2024/07/fk-panevezys-3-0-hjk-helsinki-att-1100.html
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2023/07/fc-urartu-0-1-hsk-zrinjski-mostar-att.html
The honour of the first match this season fell to KuPS, another side from Finland, against Moldovan champions Milsami-Orhei, which kicked off one hour ahead of ties in Armenia and Georgia.
Kuopion Palloseura ( KuPS )
KuPS are based in the city of Kuopio, which is located 390km north of Helsinki and is the 8th largest municipality in Finland, with an estimated population of around 126,000.
KuPS have not had an individual match previously featured in these diaries, but were regularly mentioned during the round-ups of the 2020 season in Finland, and there were brief summaries of their Europa League wins over Slovan Bratislava ( on penalties ) and Lithuanian side FK Suduva ( 2-0 ), and the 1-3 defeat in Romania to CFR Cluj. KuPS had earlier lost the infamous student kitchen derby 0-5 to Molde in the Champions League Qualifier.
Indeed, it was commented that KuPS, 2019 champions, had managed finish third in a two-horse race for 2020 title, losing their last 4 matches when the championship was theirs to lose, after having lost only once in their first 18 matches.
Since then, KuPS had finished as runners-up in 2021, 2022 and 2023, before securing their 7th title in 2024. A double was achieved in 2024 with a 2-1 victory over Inter Turku in the FA Cup Final, their 5th Cup win.
Home is the 5,000 capacity Vare Areena, which has an artificial surface, and their usual colours are yellow shirts and black shorts. Their nicknames are either the yellow-blacks or the Canaries.
Since their Europa League run in 2020, KuPS have continued to enjoy some limited success in Europe. In the Europa Conference in 2021/22 they eliminated Armenian side Noah ( 5-1 on aggregate ), Ukrainians Vorskla Poltava ( 5-4 ), and Kazakh side Astana ( also 5-4 on aggregate ) before being beaten by Union Berlin ( 0-4 on aggregate but with a 0-0 draw in Berlin ).
In 2022/23, again in the Europa Conference, Georgian side Dila Gori were beaten 2-0 over two legs, after which, in a precursor of today’s fixture, Milsami-Orhei were overcome with a 2-2 draw at home but a 4-1 triumph in Moldova. Young Boys of Berne were too strong in the next round as KuPS exited the competition 0-5 on aggregate.
In the 2024/25 Europa Conference, KuPS progressed past Luxembourg side UNA Strassen 5-0 on aggregate but failed to get past Tromso.
KuPS This Season
The 2024 champions are making a robust defence of their title, and after their 16th game of the season, a 2-2 draw last Friday evening at Oulu, they sat in second place in the table, level on points with Inter Turku, who had played two games fewer. Ilves were a point behind but with one game in hand, whilst HJK were four points behind having played one game fewer.
KuPS had an overall 9-3-4 record, and were 7-0-2 at home. The home defeats had been 0-3 to Ilves and 0-2 to VPS.
KuPS had started the season with a 1-1 at Inter Turku and then embarked on a run of 7 consecutive victories. However, their form then dipped with four defeats in their next five games, the only point coming from a 0-0 draw at HJK, and included home and away 0-3 losses to Ilves.
KuPS were unbeaten in their last three matches though, beating HJK 3-0 and Gnistan 6-2 at home before the draw at Oulu.
The average home attendance for KuPS this season was 2,487, which compared to 3,233 in 2024.
KuPS Squad
Five players had scored five times in the Veikkausliiga this season for KuPS, winger Joslyn Luyeye-Lutumba, midfielder Otto Ruoppi and centre-forward Agon Sadiku ( 2 caps ), who is on loan from Dutch side FC Emmen. Veteran midfielder Petteri Pennanen ( 1 cap ) had found the net four times, and had scored twice whilst playing for Ilves against Inter Turku in a game covered by these diaries in 2023. Guinea forward Mohamed Toure also had four goals to his name.
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Other foreigners in the KuPS squad included two Ghanaians, wing-back Bob Nii Armah and left-back Clinton Antwi, and ex-Nice and Nancy Ivorian centre-back Ibrahim Cisse. Kosovan under 21 striker Dion Krasniqi was on loan from Swedish side Elfsborg whilst Austrian keeper Johannes Kreidl had played for Nurnberg .
Left-back Nico Hamalainen ( 12 caps ) had played for Queens Park Rangers, Kilmarnock and LA Galaxy and midfielder Saku Savolainen was, along with Pennanen, the only survivor from the 2020 team. Midfielder Jaakko Oksanen ( 1 cap ) numbered Brentford, AFC Wimbledon and Greenock Morton amongst his former clubs
Ex-Stockport County and Hibernian midfielder Jarkko Wiss ( 47 caps ) was the coach of KuPS.
FC Milsami-Orhei
FC Milsami-Orhei are based in the Moldovan city of Orhei, which has a population of just over 20,000 and is located 40km north of the capital Chisinau.
Home is the 3,000 capacity CSR Orhei, and their nickname is The Red Eagles, despite their current kit being all white with red trimmings.
The 2024/25 title was Milsami’s second success, following their win in 2014/15. However, their triumph was considered to be controversial as owner Ilan Shor has been implicated in the theft of $1billion from three Moldovan Banks in 2014, which was 12.5% of the country’s GDP. Shor is reportedly now living in Moscow and is under sanctions from the EU, UK and Switzerland.
All of this came after the alleged Russian Mafia backing of Sheriff Tiraspol in the breakaway Republic of Transnistria, which had led to 21 titles for Sheriff in 23 seasons, although Sheriff had now failed to win the league for two seasons in a row, after Petrocub Hincesti had won the 2023/24 title.
Like KuPS, Milsami had not previously featured in an individual match report, but were regularly mentioned during the round-ups of the Moldova 2021/22 season. Matches from Moldova used to be streamed free to air on YouTube, but since 2022 both live streams and highlights had been subject to a small fee, so Fatbear had not covered the league since then.
At the 2021/22 winter break, Milsami were in third place in the table. International midfielder Radu Ginsari had led Milsami to the top of the league by the end of August but then left to join Greek second division side Xanthi and the results suffered.
Milsami ultimately finished the 2021/22 season in third place, and the following seasons resulted in 3rd, 4th and 4th placed finishes, before last season’s title win.
Milsami have an ordinary record in European competition, with their main successes having come against Belarus opposition, overcoming Shakhtyor Soligorsk on penalties in the 2013/14 Europa League, and Torpedo Zhodino in the 2024/25 Europa Conference ( 4-2 on aggregate ). Other triumphs came against Bulgarian side Ludogorets in the 2015/16 Champions League ( 3-1 on aggregate ), Sarajevo in the 2021/22 Europa Conference ( 1-0 on aggregate ) and Panevezys in the 2022/23 Europa Conference ( 2-0 on aggregate )
FC Milsami-Orhei This Season
The Moldova Super Liga was the first of the European Winter Leagues to commence this season, and Milsami had already played three matches. Zimbru were beaten 3-0 on the opening day in June, and Politechina UTM were beaten 3-0 away in Round two.
However, their most recent match saw a 1-2 home defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol. Ginsari had given Milsami the lead from the penalty spot after Ndon had been brought down by the Sheriff keeper, but Sheriff got back into the game after a red card to Nigerian defender Christoper Mwaeze, who is on loan from Ukrainian side Zorya Luhansk, to take the three points. Milsami were consequently in third place after three matches.
FC Milsami-Orhei Squad
Ginsari ( 47 caps ) rejoined Milsami in 2022 and remained their key player, whilst Vasile Jardan was another survivor from the 2021/22 team. Keeper Emil Timbur ( 1 cap ) had a brief spell at Panezeyvs.
Foreign members of the Milsami squad included French midfielder Nabil Khali, who had played in Slovenia for Tabor Sezana, Nigerian midfielders Oladotun Olatunde-Matthew and Ime Ndon, Ghanaian left-back Frederick Takyi and Burkina Faso midfielder Abdoul Yoda.
Belgian centre-back Danny Lupano had previously played for Hednesford Twon, Hull City, Derry City. King’s Lynn Town and Virton whilst Dutch right-back Hennos Asmelash had played for ADO Den Haag and Top Oss as well as playing in Ukraine and Poland. Striker Kabamba Kalabatama was born in Zambia but grew-up in Norway, and Malian attacking midfielder Sibiry Keita had played for Eupen and Slavia Sofia.
Matchday Information
The distance from Orhei to Kuopio is around 1,800km by road. There are no direct scheduled flights between Moldova and Finland, so Milsami would either need to transfer somewhere eg Riga, Warsaw, Copenhagen or Frankfurt, or charter an aircraft. They would still then need to travel from Helsinki to Kuopio !
Tickets for today’s game ranged between €11 to €26
The weather at the 18.00 kick off time ( 16.00 UK ) was dry and 17 degrees. Light rain was forecast for during the match
The match was live streamed on Bet365, who made KuPS 2/7 favourites, with Milsami at 8/1 and the draw at 15/4.
KuPS made seven changes from the side that drew with Oulu with Kreidli, Savolainen, Cisse, Antwi, Oksanen, Ruoppi and Pennanen coming into the side, and all the dropped players were amongst the substitutes. Eight of the starting line-up were qualified to play for Finland.
Milsami-Orhei made four changes from the side that lost to Sheriff, with Asmeleash, Lupano, Keita and Kalabatama coming in for Chele, Lisu, Olatunde-Matthew and Ndon. Milsami only named six substitutes, two of which were goalkeepers. The Milsami starting XI contained only three Moldovans, although a further five more were on the bench.
KuPS were playing in their usual kit of yellow shirts, black shorts, yellow socks, whilst Milsami-Orhei were all red with white trim and numbers. There was no sponsor on the front of their shirts.
The referee and his assistances were from Latvia.
Match Report
The game started quietly, with KuPS enjoying nearly all of the possession but the final ball was usually overhit and went through to the Milsami keeper or to a defender. The home fans were in good voice though ( and would be throughout the game ).
Milsami keeper Timbur was first called in to action to come out of his area to reach a long ball out of the KuPS defence and concede a throw in.
The first sight of Milsami as an attacking threat came in the 7th minute as a cross from the left went slightly behind Ginsari, who could only head high over the bar from 10 yards.
The home created a good opportunity in the 13th minute as Oksanen released Ruoppi in to the left-hand channel inside the Milsami penalty area, but his right footed shot hit the sliding Jardan and went off for corner. After the corner was partially cleared, the reworked ball in from the right wing was cleared by Lupano.
Ruoppi tried his luck again two minutes later but his first time low shot from just inside edge of area was straight at keeper Timbur, who made a comfortable save
In the 22nd minute, Milsami’s Nwaeze lost possession 10 yards outside his area and Sadiku looked to break into the penalty box, but Jardan was covering and made an important tackle. KuPS appealed for a penalty but the referee wasn’t interested.
At the other end, Kalabatama delivered a dangerous cross from the right-wing which was punched away by keeper Kreidl. Shortly after, Keita again released Kalabatama but this time his low ball across goalmouth cleared by Miettinen.
Just after the half-hour mark, Ruoppi fed Antwi but the shot was blocked. A minute later Pennanen ran onto a defence splitting ball but his left footed shot from 10 yards was blocked by a combination of the keeper and a defender. The rebound fell to Antwi, who shot wildly across goal and Sadiku sliding in at the far post couldn’t apply final touch. It was a great chance !
Milsami’s Khali then had two attempts on goal inside two minutes. First, a 25 yard left footed shot bounced just wide of far post, although keeper Kreidl looked to have had it covered. Keita’s second effort with his right foot wasn’t nearly as impressive and sailed high and wide.
Pennanen won a corner for KuPS, which was headed away. Antwi crossed the ball back into the danger zone, and after a bit of pinball, the ball rolled harmlessly to keeper Timbur. The ball may have hit an arm of a Milsami defender but the referee waved play on.
The home side came close to opening the scoring three minutes before the interval. A cross from the right wing went over the head of Sadiku and hit Milsami’s Asmelash. The ball looped back across the goalmouth and struck the crossbar before bouncing away to safety.
A minute later Pennanen launched a 25 yard left footed drive which was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Timbur. The keeper flapped at the corner, which everyone missed, and the ball went off for a goal kick.
Timbur was in the action on the stroke of half-time but his tip over the bar from Sadiku’s 25 yarder was a regulation save. Savolainen, under pressure beyond far post, headed Antwi’s corner well wide.
There was still time for Keita to be shown the first yellow card of the game for a stray arm into face of Antwi. It was 0-0 at half-time, but KuPS had dominated, having had 62% of the possession, and the corner count was four to nil
KuPS forced a corner almost immediately at the start of the second half. After taking a short corner, the ball into the area was poor, but Yoda dallied rather than clearing. KuPS were able to regain possession, but the ball towards the far post was shielded off for a goal-kick by Asmelash.
Milsami earned their first corner of the game in the 47th minute, which was blocked at the near post and then hoofed away.
Takyi then saw his left-wing cross headed away by a KuPS defender but a 25 yard shot from Asmelash flashed across goalmouth but bounced a couple of yards wide.
With 52 minutes played, Ruoppi played a smart pass to put Pennanen clear inside the area on the left but incredibly Timbur came off his line to make an excellent sliding tackle !
Ruoppi then displayed good control and trickery but was closed down at the expense of a corner. A scramble ensued when the ball was played in the 6-yard box and Sadiku shot for goal, only to be denied by Nwaeze’s header off the line.
Lupano was having a good game for The Red Eagles, and more excellent defending blocked a cross from Antwi for a corner, which was punched away by Timbur under pressure in a crowd of players.
Milsami created their best chance of the game to date in the 68th minute. A raking cross to far post was headed across the six-yard line by substitute Sorin Chele. Kalabatama tried to turn and shoot but his control was poor and the ball ran away from him and the chance was gone.
Khali’s cross was then deflected and Kreidl was unable to prevent the ball from going out for a corner. Chele’s delivery was poor and was cleared, and when Chele regained possession, his cross went straight to the KuPS keeper.
Pennanen then did well on left and his cross from close to the byline was headed back across his own goal by Takyi. The ball reached Ruoppi, who athletically struck the bouncing ball with his left foot from the angle of the 6-yard box across goal, and the ball nestled inside the far post. It was the last contribution from Pennanen as he was immediately substituted after the goal. The restart was delayed and three minutes after the ball had hit the net, there was a VAR for a potential offside against Toure, for possibly impairing the view of the keeper. However, after a wait of nearly 5 minutes, finally the goal was given and it was 1-0 with 73 minutes played.
The Milsami keeper then needed to dive onto a low ball from left before Ruoppi could pounce, and at the other end Keita’s left-footed shot from the edge of area bobbled wide.
Asmelash entered the referee’s notebook for bringing down Ruoppi as he ran down the left wing towards the byline, after which Oksanen saw yellow for an off the ball block on Kalabatama.
With time running out, KuPS had two corners which came to nothing after which Milsami won a corner following a cross from Khali being headed off by Savolainen. The corner was punched away by Kreidl.
Five added minutes were to be played but Milsami seemed content to play around at the back, with just a couple of aimless lumps forward. KuPS comfortably saw out the end of the game to finish winners of the first leg.
It’s all to play for in the second leg but KuPS may come to regret not having a greater lead to take to Moldova
KuPS : Kreidl – Savolainen, Cisse, Miettinen, Antwi ( Hamalainen ) – Oksanen, Ruoppi, Arifii – Luyeye-Lutumba ( Toure ), Sadiku ( Heinonen ), Pennanen ( Voutilainen )
Milsami-Orhei : Timbur – Asmelash ( Arhirii ), Lupano. Jardan, Takyi – Khali ( Ghimp ), Mwaeze, Ginsari, Yoda ( Lisu ) – Keita ( Chele ), Kalabatama,
