Djurgården is the first Swedish men's team in 38 years to play a semifinal in a European club team tournament in football. The last time it happened was when IFK Göteborg won the then Uefa Cup in the 1987 season.
Before Thursday evening's meeting in Stockholm with the English giant club Chelsea – valued at around 30 billion kronor – the tickets have been sold out for a long time. For all of the home team's players, it is a highlight of their career.
It's clearly surreal to see these world-class players come here and share the pitch with us. We need to have respect, but we must also be brave and do our thing, as we always do, says team captain Jacob Une.
Djurgården, which has so far earned around 110 million kronor in the Conference League, knocked out Rapid Wien after extra time in their quarterfinal a couple of weeks ago. Chelsea defeated Legia Warszawa.
Three million – per week
According to TV4's Football Channel, some of the highest-paid players in Chelsea earn as much as the entire Djurgården organization. English national team midfielder Reece James is said to earn 230,000 pounds per week, equivalent to almost 3 million kronor and over 167 million per year. According to Football Channel, an annual salary of 1–2 million kronor is considered well-paid in Djurgården.
I haven't thought about it specifically. That's just the way it is. In the end, we'll play eleven against eleven and then it's about doing everything to win, says Marcus Danielson.
"A bit strange"
The winner of the two matches, with the semifinal to be decided next week at Stamford Bridge in London, will advance to the final in Wroclaw, Poland, on May 28.
One factor that Djurgården, which is currently in eleventh place in the Allsvenskan after a shaky start to the season, hopes will be to the team's advantage is the artificial turf at the 3 arena, which has had varied quality during the Allsvenskan spring.
It's relatively okay. I think it's better now than it has been for a while. But on certain parts of the pitch, the ball behaves a bit strangely. I know they've worked to get it better, says Djurgården's coach Jani Honkavaara.
Founded: March 10, 1905, in Fulham, London.
Home arena: Stamford Bridge.
Owner: BlueCo, an American consortium led by Todd Boehly.
Chairman: Todd Boehly, USA.
Coach: Enzo Maresca, Italy, since 2024.
Titles: Six English league titles, including five in the Premier League and most recently in the 2016–2017 season. Two Champions League titles, most recently in 2020–21. Eight FA Cup titles, most recently in 2017–18.
Other: The world's ninth most expensive club in 2024, valued at 3.13 billion dollars, equivalent to around 30 billion kronor, according to Forbes. Real Madrid is the world's most expensive club, valued at almost 63.5 billion kronor last year.
