Bergstrom cycles from Subway to Champions League — SkimNews
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- Jacob Bergstrom was still playing amateur football at 22 and worked at Subway after joining Mjallby in 2018, not becoming a full-time professional until age 24.
- Mjallby won the Swedish championship and Swedish Cup for the first time in their 87-year history last season, then beat Lincoln Red Imps 3-0 at Strandvallen before a 0-0 draw in Gibraltar sent them through to the third qualifying round.
- Hallevik, Mjallby's base with fewer than 1,000 residents, is the second smallest village ever to stage a Champions League fixture, after Streymnes in the Faroe Islands (population 321).
- Yaya Toure, who won the 2009 Champions League final with Barcelona at Rome's Stadio Olimpico, took his first managerial job at Slovan Bratislava in June and brings his side to Strandvallen for Tuesday's first leg (17:00 BST).
- Captain Jesper Gustavsson is the last survivor of the Mjallby team that avoided relegation to the fourth tier on the final day of the 2016 season, having made his debut aged 18 and grown up 20 minutes north of Hallevik.
- Mjallby fans unveiled a pre-match tifo against Lincoln Red Imps depicting a ship and a map of Europe, with a banner reading: 'A new chapter in the history books — written by all who dared to dream and those who refused to give up.'
Why it matters: Mjallby are guaranteed a Conference League place even if they lose to 24-time Slovakian champions Slovan Bratislava, ensuring Bergstrom and a squad from a village under 1,000 keep playing European football this season regardless of the Champions League outcome.
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