Champions League | First qualifying round

Jul 8, 2025 at 5pm UK

FC Iberia 1999 vs Malmo

Match preview

Iberia appear to have cracked the code for sustained success at home, as they are currently enjoying an outstanding title defence in the top flight.

Having become champions for the first time in 2018, the Red Eagles had to wait until the previous season to reclaim the crown, but they have followed that triumph with a seamless run this year.

Levan Korgalidze’s team are top of the league at the midway point of the 2025 season, having gone unbeaten in their first 18 matches, with 13 wins and five draws, collecting 44 points in total.

However, recent outings have seen a rare blip, with Iberia suffering their first defeats of the year: a 3-1 loss to Dila Gori in the semi-final of the Georgian Super Cup, followed by a penalty shootout defeat to Torpedo Kutaisi in the third-place play-off. Nevertheless, they will be looking to put these setbacks behind them quickly ahead of Tuesday’s clash.

They can take encouragement from their formidable home record, having won eight of their last nine competitive matches at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium. However, this success has yet to translate into the Champions League preliminaries.

Iberia’s only previous involvement in the UCL came in the 2019–20 season, when they lost both home matches in the qualifiers: a 3–1 defeat to Sheriff Tiraspol at this stage, and a 2–0 loss to Dinamo Zagreb in the next round, despite having progressed on aggregate against the Moldovan team.

Malmö have a far greater pedigree in this competition and are targeting a return to the group stage for the first time since their 2021–22 campaign.

The Swedish side will be hoping to avoid a repeat of their last appearance in the qualifiers, when they lost 2–0 away to Sparta Prague and were knocked out with an aggregate loss of 4–0, missing out on the 2024–25 tournament proper.

However, Henrik Rydström’s team are not in good form, having won only one of their last six matches in all competitions – a slump largely due to their lack of attacking power.

The Blue Ones have scored only four goals in that period, failing to score in four matches, including a goalless draw at GAIS in their last match.

This result leaves Malmö in fifth place in the league, stretching their winless away streak to four matches (three draws), so Rydström will be eager to find solutions in attack if they are to take control of this two-legged tie.

Team News

Iberia concluded their third-place play-off in the Super Cup without sustaining any new injuries, meaning manager Korgalidze will have a full squad to choose from.

However, the fitness of top scorer Iuri Tabatadze remains in doubt, as he missed the last match entirely after being substituted in the 56^(th) minute of the previous game.

The situation is less encouraging for the visitors, with head coach Rydström grappling with an increasing number of fitness concerns within his squad.

Twenty-five-year-old striker Erik Botheim is expected to be out until October with a broken leg, while Johan Dahlin and Stefano Holmquist Vecchia are edging closer to returns from cruciate ligament and back injuries respectively.

There are also doubts over the availability of defenders Martin Olsson and Pontus Jansson, who are both nursing thigh problems.

Possible starting lineup

FC Iberia 1999 possible starting lineup:

Megrelishvili; Gelashvili, G. Tabatadze, Jgierenaya, Agyakwa; Kardava, Silagadze, I. Tabatadze, Mamageishvili, Dadiani; Sikharulidze

Malmo possible starting lineup:

Elborg; Buzanello, Ressler, Larsen, Karlsson; Bolin, Rosengren, Busuladzic, Hakshabanovic; Ali, Gudjohnsen