FC Midtjylland suffered an early scare, but otherwise, they barely put a foot wrong. On Thursday evening, the team from Central Jutland convincingly secured their place in an autumn season packed with European football.
Playing away, they won 4-1, sealing a 6-1 aggregate victory over Croatian side HNK Rijeka in the decisive round of the Conference League qualifiers.
The score was 1-1 at halftime, but the match was effectively decided during four electrifying minutes early in the second half, leaving the Croatians all but defeated.
This means Denmark will have four teams in the Conference League this autumn: FC Midtjylland, FC Copenhagen, FC Nordsjaelland, and AGF.
The visitors arrived in Croatia with a 2-0 lead, but that was quickly cut to 2-1 when the home side scored as early as the fourth minute following a somewhat shaky start to the match. From then on, however, the Danes dominated proceedings.
The equalizer came in the 18th minute when a corner kick found Stanley Iheanacho at the far post, and the Nigerian player swept the ball into the net.
After the break, the disparity in quality became increasingly apparent. FC Midtjylland were in total control, and a decisive five-minute spell began in the 51st minute.
Dario Osorio put the Danes ahead with a superb strike from a tight angle, before defender Magnus Jensen scored a classic center-forward's goal, finishing a cutback following brilliant build-up play by Rasmus Nissen Kristensen.
From there, it was a walk in the park, and the final nail was driven into the Croatian coffin in the 78th minute. Sofus Johannesen curled a corner kick into the box, where Cho Gue-sung headed the ball into the net.