Danish champions FC Midtjylland get their Superliga title defence underway when they journey to the Ceres Park Arena to face Aarhus in the season curtain-raiser on Friday. This will be the second meeting between the two sides within the space of two weeks, with Thomas Thomasberg's men storming to a 4-0 victory when they squared off in pre-season on July 4. Aarhus failed in their bid to return to Europe as they secured a fifth-placed finish in the Championship Round last season following a disappointing second half of the campaign.
Uwe Rosler's men picked nine wins and nine draws from their first 23 matches to collect 36 points and end the regular season in the top half of the table, securing a spot in the Championship playoffs for the second consecutive year. However, Aarhus ran out of steam at the business end of the campaign where they picked up just eight points from their final 10 matches to finish fifth in the table, 15 points adrift of the Conference League playoff spot. Two back-to-back victories saw De Hvii'e end the season on a positive note as they beat Copenhagen 3-2 at home on May 21, five days before securing a 3-2 win over Brondby at the Brondby Stadion in the season finale.
Aarhus head into the new campaign off the back of a solid pre-season, where they went unbeaten in three of their four matches, claiming one draw and two wins, including Saturday's 2-1 victory over English outfit Luton Town. Midtjylland, on the other hand, were crowned Danish champions for th.
