Ferencváros won its 34th title overall and fifth in a row and could make another attempt to reach the Champions League main draw this summer.Continue reading
Ferencváros suffered a three-goal defeat at home to KÍ Klaksvik of Faroe Islands in Wednesday’s second leg of the Champions League qualifying round, and went out of Europe’s most prestigious competition with a 3-0 aggregate score. The defeat means that the Budapest side will not be able to qualify for the Europa League either, with only the Conference League chances remaining.
The island rivals took the lead in the eighth minute, doubled their advantage after just over half an hour, and virtually settled the tie with their third goal before the break.
Ferencváros, who played in the last sixteen this year in the Europa League and is a five-time Hungarian champion, has qualified for the second round of the Conference League, where they will face Irish side Shamrock Rovers. The two sides met in the Europa League last year to reach the group stage, with Ferencváros progressing to the main draw with a 4-1 aggregate record.
The Green and Whites started the encounter in the sweltering heat, failing to take advantage of their rivals from Faroe, who managed to threaten from a corner in the fifth minute.
Ferencváros goalkeeper Dénes Dibusz made a save, but a few minutes later the Hungarian team goalkeeper could not help the visitors’ penalty. The goal, which came as a cold shock, did nothing to shake the Hungarian champions, who could only manage a barren advantage.
Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor
FTC played an uninspired game, failing to trouble their rivals, who defended in an organized manner. The first chants of “wake-up call” came from the fans at the break, and after half an hour they were even more vocal in their criticism, as the Faroese doubled their lead after a turnover and a goal-line clearance. With time remaining until the break, Ferencváros increased the pressure somewhat, but could not add to their tally, and Dénes Dibusz, who was too far out, could not evade a free goal after running backwards and missing a ball from the edge of the goal.
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The Budapest team was not helped by a double substitution after the break, and the match was characterized by a barren dominance of the field as the visitors’ defense played with almost no mistakes.
The pressure on the Faroese goal increased from the 65th minute onwards, but there was still no home goal to celebrate, and in the 75th minute, patience ran out as the fans chanted “auf Wiedersehen” and “Russians go home” and demanded Ferencváros’ Russian head coach’s departure. The determined Faroese team were rewarded with cheers and applause from the crowd of nearly 20,000, and their own were booed.
After the game, the head coach of Ferencváros was announced to be leaving the club: club president Gábor Kubatov said on his Facebook page that he and Stanislav Cherchesov had had a personal meeting and that they would no longer be working together.
I am ashamed on behalf of everyone. Today’s game was unworthy of Ferencváros. The conclusions will be drawn soon. I thank the fans for everything,”
the club president wrote.
The 59-year-old Russian coach has been in charge of Ferencváros since December 2021, and this season he led the club to the last 16 of the Europa League, winning the Hungarian championship as well. Csaba Máté will take over the team on a temporary basis.
Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/Illyés Tibor