The road to Wembley/Amsterdam

Football is back! So cry the masses who fill Twitter at least... The various Northern and Southern hemisphere leagues which play during the summer will have something to say about that. But just a couple of days after Spain retained their European crown, the focus returns to club football, and the first round qualifiers for the Champions League and Europa League.

2011 Veikkausliiga champions HJK Helsinki fly the Finnish flag into Europe again, in their second qualifying round tie against Icelandic champions KR Reykjavík. HJK made it into the third qualifier last season, being defeated by Dinamo Zagreb, after an earlier rout of Welsh team Bangor City. They then dropped into the Europa League, and snatched a first leg victory over German heavyweights Schalke, before losing the return. HJK will be hoping for at least a win over KR, and the chance to mix it with the likes of Anderlecht, Basel and Celtic.

HJK v Dinamo in 2011

There are also four teams heading into Europa League battle, dreaming of a May date in Amsterdam. Three enter at the first stage - out-of-sorts JJK drawn to Norwegians Stabæk, while MYPA and KuPS both face Welsh teams (MYPA vs Cefn Druids, KuPS vs Llanelli). Inter Turku enter the second qualifier, but face a tough match against the winners between recent Dutch champions Twente and Andorrans Santa Coloma.

MYPA discovered that they would have to travel to Wales without their three African players (Olajide Williams, Hassan Sesayta and David Opokua), as they were unable to obtain visas. Such logistics could prove fatal. KuPS managed to pull themselves off the foot of the domestic table on Monday with a win over Jaro, and will seek to carry on the momentum with a good first leg result against Llanelli on Thursday. For those who aren't away, I've been lucky enough to receive an invite to attend the second leg in Wales on July 12th, and will hopefully come back with good news and tales of a good performance.

All will be realistic and would be overjoyed to get anywhere near the group stage. But every game is crucial, with the complicated mathematics behind UEFA's co-efficients, seedings and allocation of places. A win here could mean the difference between being seeded or not next year.

Will we see a Finnish team lifting the famous European Cup at Wembley next spring? Probably not. Could a Finnish player? Unlikely. But that's why we dream...

From the 1995 archives

Veikkausliiga round 15 review

Another week, another exciting round of fixtures, and the top division remains tight. After Tuesday's fixture, ten points separate the top eight teams. IFK Mariehamn are now two points behind leaders HJK Helsinki, with a game in hand. The champions again failed to win, conceding a late goal at home to MYPA which now means they haven't won in four games, yet remain at the summit.

Mariehamn themselves relied on a late show, with a 2-2 draw away to Honka. An own goal from Sampo Koskinen saved them a point, as they went deep into injury time losing 2-1. The fact that Honka themselves remain only nine points off the top shows how close things are, and at the moment every point is vital.

Honka's Sampo Koskinen, own goal hero of IFK Mariehamn

Inter Turku are now without a win in five games, being on the wrong end of a seven goal thriller in Lahti. VPS are two points behind in fourth after a 2-0 victory over hapless JJK, who've lost five in a row. Haka pulled themselves further from danger with a 1-0 win over TPS, a late goal from Jarno Mattila claiming the points.

The final game was a basement battle between KuPS and Jaro. The Kuopio side were bottom, and trying to prepare for their upcoming Europa League qualifier with Llanelli of Wales (first leg on Thursday). A 60th minute goal from Miikka Ilo was the decider, and KuPS are now off the bottom, with Jaro taking their place. Jaro do have a game in hand on KuPS, but JJK are now being sucked into the battle.