LINCOLN RED IMPS v FC COPENHAGEN | UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE - GROUP F - MATCHDAY 5 | 25.11.2021

OFFICIAL MATCH PROGRAMME | 2021/22 | VICTORIA STADIUM, GIBRALTAR

UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE GROUP F – MATCHDAY 5 THURSDAY NOVEMBER 25TH 2021 | KICK-OFF 6.45PM

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FC COPENHAGEN

WELCOME

THEPRESIDENT SO HERE WE ARE WITH OUR FINAL HOME GAME IN THE UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE GROUP STAGE.

We welcome everyone connected to our opponents, FC Copenhagen, and wish them a safe journey home afterwards.

It has been quite a journey in European competition this season and it has only made us even more determined to ensure that we can create more memories like this in the seasons ahead.

Everyone involved with the club has achieved so much; it has been a learning experience along the way too, but we have enjoyed the ride and it can only benefit us in the future.

We have showed on occasions what we are capable of and it would be nice to think that we can get some points on the board over these final two games.

I would like to thank the fans that have turned out to support us this evening.

Your backing is so important to us and I hope to hear you in good voice throughout the game to give the players the encouragement that they need and deserve.

We want to see more supporters sampling the thrills and spills of live football here at Victoria Stadium. You cannot beat live action and we are proud to have delivered the highest standard of domestic football to you this season in this competition.

The hard work and commitment continues. We are a club that wants to keep progressing and will not stand still.

Let’s do this together.

Enjoy the game…

DYLAN VIAGAS President

Head Coach: Michael McElwee Team Delegate: Christian Fortuna Fitness Coaches: Liam Mesilio & Sergio Garcia Physios: Keith Ramirez & Adam Oria Goalkeeper Coach: Miguel Angel Bazan Kitman: Jose Manuel Corrales Team Doctor: Francisco Moya CLUB HONOURS Gibraltar Football League: 25 wins 1984–85, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990– 91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004– 05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011– 12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017-18, 2018-19,2020-21 Rock Cup: 19 wins 1985–86, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1992– 93, 1993–94, 2001–02, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007– 08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2020-21 Gibraltar League Senior Cup: 18 wins 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989– 90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1999–00, 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003– 04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2013–14 MATCH PROGRAMME Today’s special souvenir Matchday Programme has been produced on behalf of Lincoln Red Imps FC by our Official Match Programme and Website Partner:

Gibraltar’s Match Programme Specialists Twitter: @APEPublications |Web: apepublications.wixsite.com/home Email: apepublications@aol.co.uk All images courtesy of:

MARK RODRIGUEZ

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FIXTURES & RESULTS

UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE 2021-22

UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE 2021-22 | GROUP F FIXTURES & RESULTS MATCHDAY 1 Thursday 16 September Slovan Bratislava 1-3 Copenhagen Lincoln Red Imps 0-2 PAOK MATCHDAY 2 Thursday 30 September PAOK 1-1 Slovan Bratislava Copenhagen 3-1 Lincoln Red Imps MATCHDAY 3 Thursday 21 October Copenhagen 1-2 PAOK Slovan Bratislava 2-0 Lincoln Red Imps MATCHDAY 4 Thursday 4 November Lincoln Red Imps 1-4 Slovan Bratislava PAOK 1-2 Copenhagen MATCHDAY 5 Thursday 25 November Slovan Bratislava vs PAOK (18:45 CET) Lincoln Red Imps vs Copenhagen (18:45 CET) MATCHDAY 6 Thursday 9 December Copenhagen vs Slovan Bratislava (21:00 CET) PAOK vs Lincoln Red Imps (21:00 CET) LATEST GROUP F TABLE FC Copenhagen ŠK Slovan Bratislava PAOK FC Lincoln Red Imps FC

P 4 4 4 4

KNOCKOUT STAGE DATES Knockout round play-offs draw: Knockout round play-offs: Round of 16 draw: Round of 16: Quarter & semi-finals draw: Quarter-finals: Semi-finals: Final:

W 3 2 2 0

D 0 1 1 0

L 1 1 1 4

F 9 8 6 2

A 5 5 4 11

GD 4 3 2 -9

Pts 9 7 7 0

13 December 2021 17 & 24 February 2022 25 February 2022 10 & 17 March 2022 18 March 2022 7 & 14 April 2022 28 April & 5 May 2022 25 May 2022

THE MANAGER

MICKMcELWEE

WELCOME BACK TO VICTORIA STADIUM FOR OUR FINAL HOME UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE GROUP GAME AS WE TAKE ON FC COPENHAGEN.

I think that I can confidently predict that it will be a very tough assignment for us this evening. Our opponents are a strong outfit who are brilliantly coached by Jess Thorup.

We struggled to contain them in the away fixture earlier in the campaign and we know that we will need to be at our best if we are to get anything tonight.

Hopefully the pitch and conditions here will slow them down a bit!

As always we really appreciate the support that we get from our fans and we will need to with us from the first whistle to the last today in order to help us through this tough fixture.

Looking at our start to the League season and I would say that it has been

. . . As always we really appreciate the support that we get from our fans and we will need to with us from the first whistle to the last today in order to help us through this tough fixture…”

satisfactory. The most important aspect is that we have collected maximum points from our four games so far.

That said, we have to admit that our performances in these encounters have been somewhat up and down.

We should not underestimate the effects that the domestic League, UEFA Euorpa Conference League and national team duties place upon a large number of our players.

It is a demanding schedule so we have to bear this in mind and understand the needs of the players and the high standards that they have to reach.

Finally, may I welcome everyone associated with our opponents before wishing them a safe journey home afterwards.

Thank you for your valued support. Enjoy the game…

MICK

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EVEN with over 450 senior appearances to his name from almost two decades as a professional, Scott Wiseman, admits that our UEFA Europa Conference League campaign has been a big learning curve.

INTERVIEW

“Whilst we’ve taken positives from each of our group matches so far, we’ve also learned from each one,” admitted the 36 year-old. “On that basis it has been a big learning curve for us all, myself included.

“Looking back over each group game, we have shown that regardless of our minnow status within the group, we have really given the so-called bigger teams something to think about.

SCOTT WISEMAN

ALWAYS LEARNING

“Anyone who saw our last game against Slovan Bratislava will know that it wasn’t a 4-1 loss. We created chances throughout the game and should have taken the lead.

“We’ve deserved something to show for our efforts; what we have done, though, is show that for us and other Gibraltar-based teams, we can compete on this stage and, as a country, we have nothing to fear.

. . . Looking back over each group game, we have shown that regardless of our minnow status within the group, we have really given the so-called bigger teams something to think about…

“It would be nice if we could have a strong finish in what is our last home game in this competition. The results haven’t been in line with our performances so it would be good to get some points on the board and give our fans something to cheer about.

“The supporters are massively important and I don’t think we appreciated how much until after Covid when they were allowed back in to games.

“They make all of the difference in these European encounters; with them behind us, we’ve never been out of any game here and hopefully that will continue tonight.”

06

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HAVING found the net earlier this month in Gibraltar’s World Cup qualifier against Latvia, Liam Walker has his sights set on adding a UEFA Europa Conference League goal to his tally before November is through.

INTERVIEW

“It’s always nice to get on the scoresheet, but a goal in a World Cup qualifier is extra special,” he admitted. “To follow it up with a goal in the group stage of this competition would make it a pretty good month indeed!

“I am confident that if an opportunity comes my way, I will take it. I’m playing with plenty of belief and the team is well up for the challenge that lies ahead of us this evening.

“We knew right from the start that it wasn’t going to be easy to get points on the board, but we go into every game aiming to win and this one is now different.

“The fact that we haven’t been able to get any points on the board so far gives us extra motivation to go out there and do it tonight.

08

LIAM WALKER

GOALS IN MIND

“We need as many fans here as possible to help us achieve this objective. We want teams to come here and feel the pressure from our supporters.

. . . To be playing at this stage of the competition is a dream come true for me and, to be honest, I don’t want it to end…

“To have this level of European football in Gibraltar is a massive thing; it’s good for us and the whole of football here.

“To be playing at this stage of the competition is a dream come true for me and, to be honest, I don’t want it to end.

“What it has done is made us extra motivated to achieve it again next year. We have an amazing squad and we know that we are more than capable of repeating this feat.

“We have proved that we can compete at this level and hopefully we will give FC Copenhagen a good game this evening.”

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MATCHDAY 4

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LINCOLN RED IMPS 1 SLOVAN BRATISLAVA 4 04.11.2021 UEFA Europa Conference League Group F IMAGES Mark Rodriguez

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06.07.2021 | CS Fola Esch (A) UEFA Champions League First Qualify

13.07.2021 | CS FOLA ESCH (H) UEFA Champions League First Qualify

20.07.2021 | CFR CLUJ (H) UEFA Champions League Second Qua

05.08.2021 | SLOVAN BRATISLAVA UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying

10.08.2021| Slovan Bratislava (A) UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying

2021 - 22

HISTORIC EUROPEAN ADVENTURE

28.07.2021 | CFR Cluj (A) UEFA Champions League Second Qua

19.08.2021 | Riga (A UEFA Europa Conference League Play

26.08.2021 | RIGA (H) UEFA Europa Conference League Play

16.09.2021 | PAOK (H) UEFA Europa Conference League Gro

30.09.2021 | FC Copenhagen (A) UEFA Europa Conference League Gro

21.10.2021 | Slovan Bratislava (A) UEFA Europa Conference League Gro

04.11.2021 | SLOVAN BRATISLAVA UEFA Europa Conference League Gro

25.11.2021 | FC COPENHAGEN (H) UEFA Europa Conference League Gro

09.12.2021 | PAOK (A) UEFA Europa Conference League Gro IMAGES | Mark Rodriguez

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ying Round first leg | 2-2

ying Round second leg | 5-0

alifying Round first leg | 1-2

alifying Round second leg | 0-2

(H) g Round first leg | 1-3

g Round second leg | 1-1

y-Off first leg | 1-1

y-Off first leg | 3-1

oup F Matchday 1 | 0-2

oup F Matchday 2 | 1-3

oup F Matchday 3 | 2-0

(H) oup F Matchday 4 | 1-4

oup F Matchday 5

oup F Matchday 6

OFFICIAL MATCHDAY PROGRAMME OF THE LINCOLN RED IMPS 13

OUR VISITORS

FC COPENHAGEN UEFA EUROPA CONFERENCE LEAGUE STATS WON: 3 | DRAWN: 0 | LOST: 1 GOALS SCORED: 9 (2.25 avg. per match) SHOTS ON TARGET: 17 SHOTS OFF TARGET: 21 SHOTS BLOCKED: 11 GOALS CONCEDED: 5 (1.25 avg. per match) TACKLES: 29 | BLOCKS: 14 CLEARANCES ATTEMPTED: 71 ATTEMPTS CONCEDED: 51 YELLOW CARDS: 11 (2.75 avg. per match) RED CARDS: 1 (0.25 avg. per match) HONOURS Danish Football Championship: Winners (13): 1992–93, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19. Runner-up (7): 1993–94, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2019–20 DBU Pokalen: Winners (8): 1994– 95, 1996–97, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17. Runner-up (4): 1997–98, 2001–02, 2006–07, 2013–14 Danish League Cup: Winners: 1996. Runner-up (2): 2005, 2006 Danish Super Cup: Winners (3): 1995, 2001, 2004 Ørestad Cup: Winners (2): 2000, 2002 Royal League: Winners (2): 2004–05, 2005–06.

Runner-up: 2006–07[38] Copa del Sol: Runner-up (1): 2012 Stay and Play Cup (FIFA 20) Winners: 2020

HISTORY THE CLUB was established in 1992 when Kjøbenhavns Boldklub, continental Europe's oldest football club, founded in 1876, and Boldklubben 1903. founded in 1903 merged.

With the rebuilding of the Parken Stadium, Denmark's national team stadium, the new club had a modern stadium to play at from the beginning.

Benny Johansen managed the club and started its maiden season well.

They made their first appearance in the European tournaments when beating Swiss team Grasshoppers 2–1 in the 1992 UEFA Intertoto Cup. The club won the Intertoto Cup that year and thereby qualified for the UEFA Cup, where it was eliminated in the second round by French team Auxerre.

Winning the 1992–93 Superliga, expectations were high going into the following campaign but they had to settle for runners-up spot.

For the next three seasons,they had little success in the Superliga, despite

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winning two Danish Cups. The team won the 1995 Cup final against Akademisk Boldklub with a 5–0 win, qualifying for European football once again, despite mediocre results in the league. Kim Brink took over as manager in 1996, but despite winning the second Cup trophy for the club, the eighthplace finish in the 1996–97 Superliga season prompted another change in managers.

The 1997–98 season marked the first season that they averaged more than 10,000 spectators at home and having bought their stadium, the self-acclaimed "best manager in Denmark," Christian Andersen, began managing the club in January 1999. He lasted 75 controversial days.

In 1999, the club made a bold statement when it was announced that Chelsea's Brian Laudrup was signing, with Bjarne Goldbæk moving in the other direction.

A four-time Danish Player of the Year award winner, Laudrup, however, could not help Copenhagen improve their league position, and the club ended the

OUR VISITORS

THEOPPOSITION

year in seventh in the 1998–99 Superliga season.

Laudrup only stayed for just six months at the club before signing for Ajax at the end of the season.

In May 2000, English manager, Roy Hodgson, became the new manager.

From the 2000–01 season, the club started to improve. The club won its second Superliga championship, winning 3–1 in the last Copenhagen derby match of the season, at the Parken Stadium.

Hodgson was replaced at the helm by Swede Kent Karlsson. The 2001 season is also remembered for a highly dramatic event. During training on 13 March 2001 charismatic midfielder Ståle Solbakken suffered a heart attack. He was rapidly attended to by club doctor Frank Odgaard who found that his heart had stopped beating and started to administer cardiac massage. Upon the

ambulance's arrival, Solbakken was pronounced clinically dead at the scene, but on the way to the hospital in the ambulance he was revived nearly seven minutes later. He survived the episode and had a pacemaker fitted. Shortly after, on medical advice, he announced his playing retirement, but would later return to the club and become its most successful manager.

The club went on to win the 2004 and 2006 Danish championships and the 2004 Danish Cup. They also won the inaugural 2004–05 edition of the Royal League tournament, beating Swedish team IFK Göteborg in a penalty shootout in the 2005 final. They repeated the achievement in the 2006 edition of the tournament, this time beating Norwegian team Lillestrøm SK 1–0 in the 2006 final.

For the first time in the club's history, the club entered the group stage of the Champions League in 2006-07, being

grouped with Celtic, Benfica and Manchester United, all former winners of the trophy.

Despite not losing a game at Parken (Benfica 0–0, Manchester United 1–0 and Celtic 3–1), they failed to qualify from the Champions’ League group stage after losing all of its away games.

In the League, the club won its fifth Danish championship in seven years with four games to spare.

The team qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup group stage and won the Danish Cup final against AaB as well as claiming the league title, thus securing the double for the second time in the club's history.

2010 proved to be yet another European success. Even though the team lost the 2009–10 Champions League play-off match against APOEL with a 3-2 aggregate loss, the team had already qualified to the 2009–10

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OUR VISITORS

FC COPENHAGEN

Europa League group stage by eliminating FK Mogren and Stabæk.

They lost away to CFR Cluj, won 1–0 at home against Sparta Prague and lost by the scoreline against PSV. However, by beating Cluj at home 2–0 and a 3–0 away win over Sparta, they qualified for the round of 32 to face Marseille where they lost 6-2 on aggregate.

Qualifying for the group stages of the Champions League the following season where they met Barcelona, Panathinaikos and Rubin Kazan.

After a 3–1 win against Panathinaikos in their last group stage match, they qualified for the round of 16—thereby becoming the first-ever Danish club to reach the stage in the Champions League—where Chelsea defeated them.

The club won the 2012–13 Danish Superliga, however, after a horrific start

to the 2013–14 season, they fired manager Ariël Jacobs, rehiring Ståle Solbakken as his replacement.

Solbakken was given a two-year contract with the option for a further two-year extension. In the Champions League, the club was placed into Group B alongside Real Madrid, Juventus and Galatasaray and secured four points by drawing 1–1 against Juventus at home and winning 1–0 at home over Galatasaray.

The club, however, suffered its first-ever Champions League group stage home defeat after falling 2-0 to Real Madrid in the last round of the group stage.

The 2014–15 season ended with them winning the Danish Cup, which they also won the following year, and finishing second in the Superliga.

They next won the Superliga in 201617, by an impressive 24-point margin, and went on to reach the round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League, their best

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finish in the competition at the time.

They also reached the Danish Cup Final, where they beat arch-rivals Brøndby to win their third consecutive cup final and their second consecutive domestic double.

More title success followed in 2018-19 and in the following season they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League, where they lost in extratime to Manchester United.

After poor results in the beginning of the 2020-21 Danish Superliga, and failure to qualify for the 2020-21 Europa League, Ståle Solbakken was sacked by the club and Hjalte Bo Nørregaard took over as caretaker manager, until Jess Thorup was appointed in November 2020.

Currently they sit in second place in the Superliga after 15 games and top Group F of the UEFA Europa Conference League with nine points from four games.

GIBRALTAR NATIONAL LEAGUE 2021-21

FIXTURES &RESULTS

OCTOBER Sun 17 1830 H Sat 23 1830 A Thurs 28 2045 H

EUROPA FC Lge Lynx Lge LIONS GIBRALTAR Lge

3-1 7-1 1-0

NOVEMBER Sun 21 1830 A Tue 30 2045 H

Glacis United MONS CALPE

4-2 -

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DECEMBER Sun 5 1830 A Sun 19 1830 H

St. Joseph's Lge BRUNO'S MAGPIES Lge

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JANUARY Fri 7 2045 A Sun 16 1600 H Sat 22 1600 A

Manchester 62 COLLEGE 1975 Europa Point

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Lge Lge

Lge Lge Lge

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FROM THE CAPTAIN

ROYCHIPOLINA

FROM THE CAPTAIN

WELCOME to this our final home game in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage.

The team is hungrier than ever to get some points on the board. It has been a very tough group campaign which has seen us compete in every game but ultimately have nothing to show for our efforts in terms of points.

We will be going out there this evening determined to rectify the situation. The backing that we get from the fans will be vital in this. I can’t stress enough how important the fans are to us.

Having European group football on our doorstep is something which was considered impossible only a few months ago. I mean think about it, we are actually participating in the same competition as the likes of Roma and Spurs, not to mention a few others.

I sometimes feel as if the penny hasn’t dropped in what has been achieved. In my opinion this should be marked with the atmosphere and packed stadium the occasion deserves.

. . . Having European group football on our doorstep is something which was considered impossible only a few months ago…

Hopefully not, but It could be years before another European group game is held in Gibraltar so I hope the public take everything into account and support us in what could end up being a historical night.

There are a lot of positives to take into these final two group games. Most importantly for me is that we have competed in every game, taken the game to the opposition and at times been the better team in parts. This gives us confidence that if we can fix certain fine margins we are capable of putting points on the board.

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Personally it’s been an incredible journey which for me began many years ago. I consider myself very lucky, honoured and proud to have lived it and even more so with Lee Casciaro who together we have seen this club grow from a mere amateur team to competing in European group stage football.

I really do need to pinch myself when I see the fixture list on Sky Sports and social media and see Lincoln Red Imps as part of it. It’s a journey which can only be described as surreal.

As a team and club, these kind of experiences only help us grow as individuals and collectively. We are all better, more experienced players from it and want more and more of these opportunities. So on that basis I would say that our standards and expectations have increased but at the same time we also know how hard we will need to work if we are to achieve anything close to this again.

ROY CHIPOLINA Captain

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LINCOLN RED IMPS

FC COPENHAGEN

HEAD COACH: MICK MCELWEE

1 MANUEL SOLER

HEAD COACH: JESS THORUP

PLD SUB

1 KAMIL GRABARA

13 KYLE GOLDWIN

21 KARL-JOHN JOHNSSON

25 FRANCISCO PAULINO

41 ANDREAS DITHMER

23 DAYLE COLEING

31 JOHAN GUADAGNO

3 JOSEPH CHIPOLINA

2 KEVIN DIKS

5 SCOTT WISEMAN

3 PIERRE BENGTSSON

6 BERNARDO LOPES

4 RUBEN GABRIELSEN

14 ROY CHIPOLINA

5 DAVID KHOCJOLAVA

24 JACK SERGEANT

20 NICOLAI BOILESEN

4 KIAN RONAN

26 MARIOS OIKONOMOU

10 LIAM WALKER

34 VICTOR KRISTIANSEN

16 JESUS TOSCANO

19 BRYAN OVIEDO

66 ETHAN BRITTO

22 PETER ANKERSEN

8 GRAEME TORRILLA

27 VALDEMAR LUND

17 MARCOS ROSA

38 ELIAS JELERT

26 MUSTAPHA YAHAYA

6 JENS STAGE

86 JAVIER ANON ESTEBAN

8 ISAK BERGMANN JOHANNESSON

9 DYLAN PEACOCK

12 LUKAS LERAGER

20 FERNANDO CARRALERO

18 ANDRI FANNAR BALDURSSON

77 KYLE CLINTON

30 HAKON ARNAR HARALDSSON

7 LEE CASCIARO

10 CARLOS ZECA 16 PEP BIEL

11 ALAN ARAIZA ALCAZAR

24 WILLIAM BOVING

29 KIKE GOMEZ

39 DANIEL HAARBO

88 EMMANUEL OCRAN

7 LUTHER SINGH

MATCH OFFICIALS

9 KAMIL WILCZEK

HELGI MIKAEL JONASSON (ISL)

28 RASMUS HOJLUND

REFEREE:

23 JONAS WIND

ASSISTANT REFEREES:

33 RASMUS FALK

GYLFI MAR SIGURDSSON (ISL)

& POROUR ARNAR ARNASON (ISL) FOURTH OFFICIAL:

VILHALMUR THORARINSSON (ISL)

COMING NEXT MATCHDAY 6:

THURSDAY 09 DECEMBER 2021 FC COPENHAGEN V ŠK SLOVAN BRATISLAVA PAOK V LINCOLN RED IMPS

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PLD SUB