KÍ Klaksvík vs Slovan Bratislava facts

KÍ Klaksvík return to the Faroe Islands on Matchday 5 to face Slovan Bratislava hoping their impressive home form can further boost their qualification chances in UEFA Europa Conference League Group A.

KÍ, who followed up their first point in UEFA competition on Matchday 2 against LOSC Lille with a convincing 3-0 home win against Olimpija Ljubljana on Matchday 3, lost their second away game last time out, going down 2-0 at Olimpija. That leaves the Faroese team third in the group, three points behind their visitors who beat them 2-1 in Slovakia in their opening game.

Bratislava won their opening two matches against KÍ and Olimpija (1-0 a) but a 2-1 away defeat by Lille and a 1-1 draw with the French team on Matchday 4 has stalled their progress, leaving them second on seven points, one behind Lille.

Previous meetings

KÍ wins 1
Slovan wins 1
Draws 0
KÍ Klaksvík goals 4
Slovan Bratislava goals 2

On Matchday 1 KÍ became the first team from the Faroe Islands to play a group stage match in a UEFA club competition as they travelled to Slovakia to face Slovan. Despite Deni Pavlović's historic opening goal for the Faroese side after 49 minutes, the home team recovered to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Vladimír Weiss (54) and Aleksandar Čavrić (74).

The teams were also drawn together in the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round but the game was cancelled due to COVID cases in the Slovan squad, with KÍ awarded a 3-0 win.

Form guide

KÍ Klaksvík

Record vs Slovakian clubs: W1 D0 L1 F4 A2
Home record vs Slovakian clubs: W1 D0 L0

History-makers KÍ are the first Faroese team to reach a group stage of UEFA competition following 13 qualifying eliminations.

Despite failing to win any of their last three games in this season's Faroe Islands Premier League (D2 L1), KÍ finished seven points clear at the top of the table when the league concluded on 29 October to claim their fourth title in five seasons and 21st overall.

KÍ recorded eye-catching 2023/24 Champions League victories against Ferencváros (0-0 h, 3-0 a) and Häcken (0-0 h, 3-3 a aet 4-3 pens) in the first and second qualifying rounds respectively before an extra-time defeat against Molde in the third qualifying round (2-1 h, 0-2 a aet).

Another narrow defeat, this time by Sheriff Tiraspol, followed in the Europa League qualifying play-offs (1-1 h, 1-2 a) but KÍ had already done enough to ensure a Europa Conference League group stage berth.

KÍ are on a nine-match unbeaten run at home in Europe (W5 D4).

Slovan Bratislava

Record vs Faroese clubs: W1 D0 L1 F2 A4
Away record vs Faroese clubs: W0 D0 L1 

Featuring in their third consecutive Europa Conference League group stage, the team from Bratislava will hope to build on their performances last season, when they played 16 games in what was their most successful continental campaign since winning the 1968/69 European Cup Winners' Cup.

The Slovakian champions finished top of their group in 2022/23 ahead of Basel on head-to-head record after beating them 2-0 away from home before a 3-3 draw at home on Matchday 4. However, the Swiss side exacted their revenge in the round of 16 with a 4-1 penalty shoot-out victory in Bratislava after both legs had finished 2-2.

Following a fifth straight title win last season, Slovan were victorious in their first two Champions League qualifiers this campaign against Swift Hesperange of Luxembourg (1-1 h, 2-0 a) and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Zrinjski (1-0 a, 2-2 h) before defeat at the hands of Maccabi Haifa in the third qualifying round (1-2 h, 1-3 a).

They then suffered a 7-4 aggregate defeat against Cypriot side Aris Limassol in the Europa League qualifying play-offs, losing 6-2 in the away second leg after a 2-1 win in Bratislava.

The Sky Blues have lost three of their eight away Europa Conference League group stage matches (W4 D1).

Links and trivia

This is only the fifth UEFA competition fixture between clubs from Slovakia and the Faroe Islands. KÍ's 2021 win against Slovan was the first, their Matchday 1 loss in Bratislava the most recent; Slovakia's Dunajská Streda beat Faroese side Vikingur 2-0 away and at home in last season's Europa Conference League second qualifying round.