2011 was a season to remember for HJK. Not only did ‘Klubi' won their third consecutive title
and the Finnish Cup (overall their 24th league championship and 11th cup victory), but they did
this in a swashbuckling fashion. The Helsinki team finished the season with a 24-point lead to
second-place Inter and scored a whopping 86 goals in 33 matches while conceding only 23.
It has been a highly eventful start to the autumn for HJK. First, maintaining their devastating
form in the league, the Helsinki club all but secured the Veikkausliiga title already in August.
Then, ‘Klubi' gave Schalke a proper run for their money in the Europa League play-offs, beating
the Germans 2-0 at home until imploding in the second half of the away leg as the hosts ran rampage
with a 6-1 victory.
It was a night to remember at the Sonera Stadium last Thursday as HJK recorded a historical
victory with a battling performance over the German giants Schalke in the Europa League play-off
first leg. Teemu Pukki scored two fantastic goals to cap a magnificent team performance by the home
side which put the Finns on the threshold of the group stages of the competition.
HJK is the Finnish team which famously thrashed Welsh club Bangor City 13-0 on aggregate in the
Champions League early round playoffs. They were then unkindly dispatched from the CL by Dinamo
Zagreb, making their way to the red-headed stepchild, the Europa League.
Teemu Pukki, formerly of Sevilla and still only 21, seems perfectly pleased with this
development.
HJK made Champions League history trashing Bangor City 13-0 on aggregate in the
second round of the competition. Both the second leg 10-0 victory at home and aggregate result are
the biggest goal-fests ever celebrated in the Champions League. The result is a remarkable
achievement in its own right, especially by a team from Finland, but, in truth, Bangor never
represented a real test for HJK.
HJK entertain Inter tonight in one of the most highly anticipated matches of the
current campaign. Inter, second in the table, chase the hosts by seven points with a game in hand,
so if the Turku team manage a victory in Helsinki all the talk of handing the Veikkausliiga trophy
to HJK may just turn out to be premature.
The surprise Veikkausliiga leaders from Jyväskylä take on the reigning champions
at the Sonera Stadium at 6:30pm tonight. JJK remain unbeaten with sixteen points after six matches
while HJK sit third with twelve points. Therefore, even with a limited grasp of arithmetic, the
hosts are in for a match they need to win.
HJK host Jaro at the Sonera Stadium tonight at 6:30pm. The home side have recorded three
straight victories (KuPS (H), Inter (H), VPS (A)) after the opening day defeat against TPS in Turku
and sit second in the table, a point behind JJK. Jaro have also recovered from their dodgy start to
the season, that saw them get beaten by biggest relegation favourites RoPS (A) and Haka (H), by
taking all three points at TPS and drawing at home to KuPS.
