Randers FC - Back from the break

7 goal haul over first Europe League opponents
Randers FC won their first European League match against Ulster team Linfield FC 4-0 at home and followed up with a 3-0 win away. Next up was FC Sudova from Lithuania, resulting in a 1-0 away win, and a 1-1 draw at home.

Consequently, Randers FC advanced to the third round, meeting Bundesliga giants Hamburger SV at home on 30 July and suffering a 4-0 defeat. Although this was a severe lesson in top flight football for Randers FC, the club can perhaps find comfort in the fact that it ran into a team in top form, having dealt similar treatment out to giants such as AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munchen, VFB Stuttgart and FC Barcelona in their pre-season warm-up matches!  The return leg in Hamburg is on 6 August with a crowd of around 30,000 expected.

By reaching the third round of the competition, Randers FC has achieved its objective with regard to Europe for this season.

Meanwhile...

SAS League kicks off
Randers FC started the 2009/10 SAS League campaign with a 1-0 defeat away at survival specialists Sønderjyske on 19 July, followed by a 3-2 defeat at home to local arch-rivals AGF from Aarhus on 27 July. However, the fightback (and a return to form) started with a spirited 2-2 draw away at FC Nordsjælland on 2 August, despite suffering the effects of three matches in six days.

Assistant trainer Henrik Larsen had the following to say after the match:
"We played poorly in the second half, but managed to come back from behind twice to win a vital point."

Søren Berg, scorer of the equaliser in the last seconds of the game added:
"A point from FCN can seem undeserved - especially as the equaliser was scored so late in the game - but I think it was what we needed to get us going in the SAS League. We're going to have to take what comes in the return leg against Hamburg and make the most of the experience, before getting down to the real work again against FC Midtjylland on 9 August."