Ferencvaros vs Midtjylland

Ferencvaros, who need to pull off an impressive home comeback to maintain their Champions League dreams, welcome FC Midtjylland, a Danish powerhouse, in Budapest on Tuesday night.

The Hungarian powerhouses lost their qualifying third-round match 2-0 in the first leg, and if they can't change the tide to their advantage, they'll be sent to the Europa League.

A combined 7-1 thrashing of the Welsh giants In Champions League qualification, Ferencvaros' performance against the New Saints—a 5-0 home thumping followed by a 2-1 away victory—was not indicative of what was to come, as Midtjylland shown last week that they were a class above in Scandinavia.

On August 6, Midtjylland easily defeated Ferencvaros by two goals, thanks to goals from veteran Polish striker Adam Buksa and Franculino either side of the halftime whistle. This result left Ferencvaros's hopes of qualifying for the UCL extremely slim.

The defending champions of Hungary, however, bounced back from their European defeat with a 2-0 victory of their own on Saturday. They easily overcame Diosgyor in league play to make it two wins from two in the 2024–25 campaign, though MTK Budapest's superior goal differential is keeping them off the top of the table.

Ferencvaros, who are currently coached by Pascal Jansen, were regular participants in European competitions during the 21st century. They made a lasting impression when they participated in the 2020–21 Champions League group stage, but they were unable to overcome the challenges posed by teams the caliber of Barcelona, Juventus, and Dynamo Kiev.

The hosts established themselves in the Europa League a few years later, making it as far as the 2022–23 final 16 before losing to Bayer Leverkusen. Even if they are unable to pull off an incredible comeback on Tuesday, they will still have an opportunity to win the UEL in the qualifying playoff round.

Having not advanced to the official tournament since the behind-closed-doors era of 2020–21, when Ajax, Atalanta BC, and Liverpool sent them packing at the first hurdle, upcoming visitors Midtjylland have a same objective in mind for the Champions League.

The Wolves, whose bite proved too strong for Ferencvaros at the MCH Arena last week, have since made a few fruitless trips through the Europa League and Europa Conference League. The form book as a whole is really enjoyable to read for the Danes.

In fact, Midtjylland easily defeated Vejle BK 2-0 at home to build on their impressive performance in the first leg of the competition last week. This was Midtjylland's fourth consecutive win, fourth clean sheet in all competitions, and third consecutive 2-0 scoreline.

Thomas Thomasberg's team has won all 12 of their competitive games since suffering a 3-0 loss to Silkeborg at the end of April. However, Ferencvaros can take some solace from the fact that they have only won two of their past seven away games.

But in order to secure a playoff spot against either Slovan Bratislava or APOEL, Midtjylland merely needs to avoid an enormous collapse, while Ferencvaros will have to settle for a Europa League qualifying match against either KI Klaksvik or Borac Banja Luka.