Midtjylland Vs Hibernian – Match Preview

1,036 Hibees in the away end as Hibs look to keep last season's momentum going!

Following Rangers’ 2-0 home win over Panathinaikos on Tuesday night, it’s now time for the next two Scottish Clubs to attempt to contribute towards Scotland’s Coefficient in what is one of the most crucial seasons in over a decade. On Thursday evening Hibs kick off in Demark at 6:30pm in the Europa League, while at Tannadice Dundee United’s campaign commences at 7:45pm in the Conference League.

Both matches are available to stream on Solidsport for £12. SolidSport is a Swedish online streaming service, launched in 2016, and are now the largest streaming platform for live sports in the Nordic region. They have picked up multiple Scottish European qualifiers in recent seasons, with their commentary team widely praised by the supporters of the teams involved.

7-day free trials have been reactivated for this week for any new Scottish football fans finding my site for the first time. This Hibs preview will cover:

• The Opposition

  • Formed in 1999

• Hibs in Europe

  • Post 2000 Scandinavian woes

  • Pre 2000 memories

• The Hibs Squad

  • The £1 million pound man

  • Momentum

• The Stakes

  • Coefficient points

  • Prize Money

  • Next round

    
    

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THE OPPOSITION

Hibernian embark on what will hopefully be a long lasting new European adventure tonight in Denmark, facing FC Midtjylland in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. The Danes missed out on retaining the title last season by just one point, losing out to FC Copenhagen. They have won four titles in their short history, with the club only formed in 1999, following the merger of two rivals Ikast FS and Herning Fremad. The new club were an instant success, gaining promotion to the top tier with a record points total.

They play in the MCH Arena in Herning, where they average around 10,000 fans per match, and the travelling Hibs fans have been given around 10% of that number as the official away allocation. European regulars - this their 19th campaign - recording some famous results over the past decade. They finished 20th in the Europa League last season, enough to progress to the knockout round where they were eliminated by Real Sociedad. Prior to that, they inflicted a stunning 5-1 thrashing on Lazio in the 2022 Europa League group stage and have previously drawn with Liverpool and beaten Manchester United.

They have a mixed history against Scottish sides, most recently knocking Celtic out of Champions League qualifying in 2021, the newly appointed Ange Postecoglou seeing his side defeated 3-2 on aggregate after extra time. Two seasons before that, the Danes were eliminated from Europe by Steven Gerrard’s Rangers - losing 4-2 in Denmark and 3-1 at Ibrox.

It was a difficult start to the Ange Postecoglou era, as Midtjylland knocked them out of Champions League Qualifying in 2021.

Midtjylland, like Hibs, find themselves as part of a Multi-Club model, which has resulted in the signing of striker Friday Etim. The Nigerian moved to Denmark from Portuguese team CD Mafra – a club also under Anders Povlsen’s ownership. The Danish billionaire owns a clothing chain “Bestseller” and took over Midtjylland in 2023. He has high hopes for Midtjylland both domestically and on the European stage, and their financial advantage makes them the strong favourites to progress from this tie, something their boss is aware of.

Midtjylland boss Thomas Thomasberg:
“We know all games in Europe, teams have quality. It's not like it will be easy for us. We are really prepared and ready for a hard game. Hopefully we can get a good start at home. A good start is of course a win. If it's possible - to win by more than one.”

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HIBS IN EUROPE
(Post-2000)

For Hibernian, the 21st century has been a tale of European near misses and overall underachievement. Hibs have never reached the group stage of a UEFA tournament since the modern format was introduced over two decades ago, and it looked like their third place finish last season would finally end that run. Unfortunately for the Hibees, Aberdeen won the Scottish Cup and so the Dons instead took the Scottish entry point which guarantees league phase football.