UCL: spotlight on Midtjylland
They are the reigning Danish champions
Midtjylland will be Atalanta's opponents on matchday 1 of the 2020/2021 UEFA Champions League Group D on Wednesday 21 October at 21 CEST at the MCH Arena in Herning.
The Football Club Midtjylland are a very young football club, born in 1999 from the merger between Ikast FS and Herning Fremad, and are based in Herning, a town of sixty thousand inhabitants located in the central Jutland region. Starting from the Danish First Division, in 2000 they immediately won promotion by setting the record for points and then immediately becoming one of the top clubs in the Superliga. In 2014-2015 they won the first of three national titles won so far, the last one last season. They have also won a Danish Cup. The Danish club are also known for the excellent work done in their youth academy: even the former Nerazzurri player Simon Kjaer was one of their youth sector's product.
Midtjylland qualified this year for the first time in their history for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after progressing from three qualifying rounds, winning 1-0 at Ludogorets first, then beating 3-0 Young Boys at home and finally overcoming Slavia Prague in the double match (0-0 in the Czech Republic, 4-1 win in the 2nd leg in Denmark). In the 2015-2016 season they achieved their best finish in an international competition, reaching the round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League.
The team has been coached by Brian Priske, former defender of the Danish National team, since summer of 2019, winning the league straight away. Currently they are on 10 points after five matchdays and a 3-1 home win over OB and are level with two other teams in third place, two points behind leaders Brøndby.