History

Midtjylland (or, as the locals call it, Midtjuland) was founded in 1999 and is located in Herning, a town of just 50,000 people on the Jutland Peninsula, 300 miles [300 km] from the capital Copenhagen.

Its colors are black and red and its emblem is the head of a wolf, hence its nickname «Black Wolves». The club was born out of the union of two clubs, Icast and Herning Freemand, which after years of great rivalry, became one and created one of the most important teams in Scandinavia today.

The turning point in the club’s short history came in 2014, when Brentford owner Matthew Benham acquired a majority stake. The English businessman helped to raise the level of the club.

Despite its short history, Midtjylland celebrated its first championship in 2015, repeated its success in 2018 and 2020, while in 2019 it also won the Danish Cup. In the 2020-21 season, they played for the first time in the Champions League groups, against Liverpool, Ajax and Atalanta.

Midtjylland were knocked out of a European tournament for the second time in their history after the 2015-16 season, when they faced Manchester United in the Round of 32 of the UEFA Europa League, winning 2-1 at home but losing 5- 1 in England.

PAOK will be the second Greek team that the Danes face in their European history. In the 2014-15 season, they faced Panathinaikos in the Play Offs of the Europa League. The Greek team clinched the ticket for the group stages on that occasion with two victories and a total aggrgate score of 6-1.

The stadium

The stadium the team moved to in 2004 is the «MCH Arena», meaning Messe center Herning, which means Herning Exhibition Center. It has a capacity of 11,500 people and was formerly called the «SAS Arena», as it was the first team in the country to sell the name of its stadium to its first major sponsor, Danish SAS Airlines.

The 2021-22 season

This season, after 17 games, the Danes are top of the league with 35 points, two more than Copenhagen. The club’s competitive obligations, however, have been on hold since December 12, when they knocked Brondby out of the Danish Cup.

From that time until today they have played five friendly games in order to maintain their match fitness and rhythmn, counting three wins and two defeats. They have not played a competitive match for more than two months due to the winter break, with the league due to restart on February 18.

They found themselves facing PAOK after dropping down from the Europa League, as they finished third in their group after collecting nine points, behind Red Star and Braga, and ahead of Ludogorets.

Earlier in the season, they competed in the Champions League qualifiers, where they managed to eliminate Celtic, but were then later eliminated by PSV Eindhoven and dropped into the third-ranked European tournament.

The protagonists  

The coach of the team since the summer of 2021 is Bo Henriksen. The 46-year-old Danish coach has not managed to celebrate a title in his career so far. From 2007 to 2014 he was the coach at Bronso, and for the next six years at Randers. He is a coach with an aggressive philosophy, who likes his team to play attacking football.

At the individual level, Midtjylland’s major protagonist is considered to be the Danish winger Pione Sisto. He started his career from the team’s academies and in the summer of 2016 he transferred to Celta Vigo. After four good years in La Liga, he returned to The Wolves.

Brazilian striker Junior Broumado and his compatriot Evander are an excellent duo on the wings. They have seven and five goals respectively in the league and have aroused the interest of several other European clubs. The captain of the team is central defender Eric Sviatshenko, who has scored four goals this year.

Winter changes

In the winter transfer market in January, Midtjylland made several important additions to their squad. They signed the right winger from Zambia, Edward Tsiloufia, who played in Djurgarden, the 37-year-old Wagner Love from Kairat, Kazakhstan, the 26-year-old German midfielder Max Meyer on loan from Fenerbahce. The Danes also signed 36-year-old goalkeeper David Usted, who has played in the MLS, wearing the jerseys of Vancouver, DC United and Chicago, and at the end of the transfer window, they also brought in the 21-year-old central defender Pablo Ortiz.

On the other hand, Jens Kayouste left the team with a transfer to Reims, bringing a significant amount to the team’s coffers.