Luxol Futsal in Elite group matches this week
A hugely daunting task lies ahead for the local Futsal Champions Luxol St. Andrews Futsal team who nonetheless will surely relish the opportunity to participate for the very first time ever for a Mal‐ tese side in the Elite Round of the most glamorous European Futsal competition, the UEFA Futsal Champions League.
Luxol has been pitted in Group C to be contested in Kazakhstan, with the local Champions Kairat Almaty, FK Chrudim from the Czech Republic, and one of Eu‐ rope’s superpowers in Futsal Por‐ tuguese Champions Benfica.
This milestone journey in the Elite Round of competition for Luxol gets underway on Wednes‐ day 23.11 facing local side Kairat Almaty from Kazakhstan.
Benfica is next the following day, before rounding proceedings off on Saturday 26.11 crossing swords with Czech side FK Chrudim.
This is a unique opportunity for Luxol Futsal to compete at the very highest standards of interna‐ tional Futsal, no Maltese side be‐ fore has ever managed this feat and performed at this level.
In Main Round last month at the Uni Complex in Msida, Luxol was smart and intelligent to secure second place in a group that saw three teams qualifying for the Elite Round.
In total, they have amassed four points after an emphatic 5‐1 win over Dutch Champions Hovocubo, and a commendable performance against Slovenian side Dobovec, seeing them harshly denied the victory with a freak goal towards the end of the match in a 1‐1 draw result.
The final match with Barcelona was always going to be tough, a fix‐ ture that was all about the joy of qualification and the glamour of facing one of the top teams in the world, ultimately the Spanish gi‐ ants emerged 7‐1 winners.
Coach Gabri Dobre will once again rely on the experience of for‐ eign players in this team, led by long‐serving individuals in the side, Emil Raducu, Celino, Everton Veve, Maicon Da Silva, and Mar‐ wan Tellisi.
Target ahead being realistic enough is clearly not qualification from this phase of the best sixteen teams in Europe, but avoiding heavy defeats and perhaps notch‐ ing a draw or indeed a victory is surely in sight for this dynamic team over this outstanding journey they have endured this year 2022 in the UEFA Futsal Champions League.