Premiership

BLUES CONTINUE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE ODYSSEY IN NORWAY

27 Jul 2022
football
© Jonathan Porter/INPHO Kirk Millar celebrates scoring the first leg winner

Linfield's Champions League journey continues this evening with a visit to Norway to take on Bodø/Glimt, kick-off 5pm.

The Blues hold the upper hand going into tonight's second qualifying round, second leg tie following a narrow victory last week at Windsor Park thanks to Kirk Millar's sublime 83rd minute finish.

Glimt bounced back in style from that defeat with a 5-0 victory over Jerv in the Eliteserien. Amahl Pellegrino bagged a hat-trick, with other goals coming from Victor Boniface and Ulrik Saltnes. That win moved them back into third spot in the standings and stretched their current domestic run to just one defeat in their last seven outings.

Linfield, for their part, continued their pre-season preparations with a two-goal win friendly away to Loughgall which saw Eetu Vertainen and Chris McKee find the net.

The aggregate winner on the tie will go forward to the Third Qualifying Round tie against either Zalgiris Vilnius or Malmo. Lithuanian side Zalgiris hold a 1-0 lead from the first leg.

The losing side will drop down into the UEFA Europa League to play the winners of the Qarabag and FC Zurich tie, from which Qarabag currently hold a 3-2 advantage.