29 APRIL – 1 MAY

1 29 APRIL 1 MAY. OFFICIAL PROGRAMME. RIGA, LATVIA. CONTENTS. 4 Big picture 7 UEFA President's message 9 Welcome to Latvia 10 Road to Riga 14 ACCS. 18 Sporting 22 Talking tactics 10. 26 Match schedule 28 Benfica 32 Bar a 36 Q&A: Renan Lodi 38 Futsal going places 42 The Champions 22 38. UEFA publications manager Emmanuel Deconche Photography ACCS Asni res Villeneuve 92, Bar a, Benfica, Editor Michael Harrold FC Diamant Linz, Sporting CP, Getty Images, UEFA, Sanita Spar ne / Latvian Football Federation Art director Oliver Meikle Statistics UEFA Data Services and TSZ Data Services Deputy editor Dan Poole Designed and produced by TwelfthMan Design Andr Viegas on behalf of UEFA. Contributors Mark Chaplin, Andrew Haslam, UEFA 2022. All rights reserved. The UEFA word, Graham Hunter, Laurent Morel, Seb Powell, the UEFA logo and all marks related to UEFA and Paul Saffer, Nuno Tavares, Graham Turner its competitions are protected by trademarks and/or Production Kat Rickards copyright of UEFA.

2 No use for commercial purposes may be made of such trademarks. 2022 Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC. PlayStation Family Mark , PlayStation , PlayStation Shapes Logo , Play Has No Limits , PS5 , PS5 logo and DualSense are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Official programme 3. WELCOME HOME. Jo o Matos salutes the Sporting CP fans on his side's return to Lisbon from Zadar, Croatia, after winning the 2021 UEFA Futsal Champions League. Matos was among the scorers as Sporting recovered from 2-0. down in the final against Bar a to win 4-3, claiming the title for the second time in three years. 4 Official programme 5. WELCOME TO THE FINALS. LAIPNI L GTI FIN LTURN R ! I wish you a warm welcome to Latvia and its Sirsn gi sveicu j s Latvij , t s galvaspils t R g un capital Riga for the UEFA Futsal Champions UEFA telpu futbola empionu l gas fin lturn r.

3 League finals. 2018. gad UEFA pie ma noz m gu l mumu UEFA's important decision in 2018 to p rd v t savas galven s telpu futbola klubu rename its premier club futsal competition is sacens bas. Tas iev rojami sekm ja atpaz stam bu, having a significant impact in raising its profile, k ar veicin ja sabiedr bas izpratni par telpu as well as boosting public awareness of futsal futbolu. Pateicoties UEFA strat iskajai kampa ai, in general. A bright future awaits European ar ko tiek populariz ta telpu futbola pievilc ba futsal as the sport sets a positive course ahead un priek roc bas, is sporta veids k st arvien bolstered by UEFA's strategic campaign to popul r ks, t d Eirop to sagaida spo a n kotne. foster the game's appeal and exposure. Lieliska pieredze v rien gu telpu futbola The Arena Riga has already had sacens bu r ko an Ar n R ga tika g ta 2019.

4 Experience of staging a major European gad , kad eit risin j s pirmais UEFA Eiropas telpu futsal tournament when it hosted the futbola empion ta fin lturn rs U-19 vecuma inaugural UEFA European Under-19 Futsal grup . Tagad aj iespaid gaj norises viet notiks Championship finals in 2019. Now, this aizraujo as sacens bas, kur s piedal sies daudzi impressive venue will be the setting for an telpu futbola vislab kie sp l t ji, kuri l dzjut jiem exciting tournament featuring many of futsal's demonstr s augst k l me a sp li. finest stars who will provide fans with action Ar nepaciet bu gaid m lielisku izklaidi, jo of the highest calibre. dal bnieku komandas cent sies ieg t presti o BECAUSE EVERY. We are looking forward to some excellent titulu, ko pievienot savam godalgu kl stam. entertainment as the participating teams Nov lam jums izbaud t o notikumu, un lai uzvar strive to add the prestigious title to their list lab k komanda!

5 CHILD IS A CHAMPION. of honours. Enjoy the action and may the best team win! Aleksander eferin UEFA President UEFA prezidents Official programme 7. WELCOME TO LATVIA. LAIPNI L GTI LATVIJ . We are delighted to welcome the best clubs and Laipni l dzam Eiropas sp c g kos telpu futbola biggest stars of European futsal to the Arena klubus un liel k s zvaigznes Latvij , m su Riga, right here in the heart of Latvia's capital! galvaspils t un Ar n R ga ! We would like to thank UEFA for Esam pateic gi UEFA par izr d to uztic bu. Ir showing confidence in the Latvian Football nov rt tas LFF sp jas uz emties da turn ra Federation (LFF) to organise a tournament r ko anu, k ar R gas k sp u m jvietas augstais of this magnitude. Riga boasts high-quality l menis nepiecie amaj infrastrukt r un t risma infrastructure and amazing tourism opportunities iesp j s.

6 R ga jau vair kk rt ir apliecin jusi, and has shown on numerous occasions that it ka prot uz emt visaugst k l me a sporta can host sporting events at the highest level in notikumus un rad t ap tiem sv tku saj tu. M su a festive atmosphere. Our capital welcomes the galvaspils ta turn ra dal bniekus un telpu futbola tournament participants and futsal lovers from cien t jus no visas Eiropas uz em ar atplest m all over Europe with open arms and with a broad rok m un pla u izklaides programmu. entertainment programme on offer. Ieguv ji no da l me a notikuma R g un Many people will benefit from having this Latvij ir uzreiz vair ki. Pirmk rt, tas ir viss event in Riga and Latvia. Firstly, the entire Latvijas telpu futbols, kas strauji un att st s, un Latvian futsal community which is growing and otrk rt, tas ir Latvijas sporta l dzjut js, kuram developing rapidly.

7 Secondly, Latvian sports tiek dota iesp ja baud t augstv rt g ko, ko telpu fans are being given the opportunity to enjoy futbols sp j pied v t. Starp ieguv jiem ir ar . the best that futsal can offer. Latvian football's Latvijas futbola starptautiskais t ls, apliecinot image abroad will also benefit, confirming our m su kompetenci un var anu sar kot Eiropas ability to organise a European sporting event of visaugst k l me a sporta notikumu. this magnitude. Ar lielu atbild bas saj tu 2019. gad uz m m In 2019, we felt the responsibility that came pirmo Eiropas empion ta fin lturn ru U-19 telpu with hosting the first UEFA European Under-19 futbola izlas m, un pa laik ar ambiciozu attieksmi Futsal Championship. Because futsal has a iek pjam jaun l men , jo telpu futbolam Latvijas special place in the Latvian football system, we futbola sist m ir pa a vieta.

8 Are now ambitiously climbing to a new level. Lai visiem izdevies turn rs! We wish everyone a successful tournament! Vadims a enko LFF President LFF prezidents 8 Official programme 9. Benfica celebrate during their decisive elite-round defeat of debutants Levante SOME FAMILIAR FACES AND ONE NEWCOMER . WITH A LEGENDARY LEADER EMERGED FROM. QUALIFYING AND WILL NOW CONTEST THE TROPHY. There was a return to normality in Group B it came down to the final day, with 2021/22 as the Futsal Champions League Sporting CP narrowly finishing ahead of 2008. resumed its usual format after the champions Ekaterinburg on goal difference streamlined knockout tournament of the after a 1 1 draw in the Lisbon decider. It was previous COVID-impacted season had more comfortable for Bar a and Benfica who culminated in an eight-team finals.

9 Each finished six points clear at the top of It was not quite business as usual their sections. though. Strict adherence to UEFA's Tyumen won all three Group A games, but Return to Play Protocol continued, with the suspension of Russian teams meant that players, teams and officials following it was the runners-up who took the finals COVID-19 safety measures to ensure spot. On paper, two-time champions Kairat games went ahead. In all, 120 were Almaty were the other main contenders, but played over three rounds of mini- they ended up behind ACCS (still missing tournaments to determine the four Ricardinho!) on goal difference, due in large teams that reached the Riga finals. part to Abdessamad Mohammed who scored Significantly as well, fans were also four times in the French side's 10-5 rout of back in the stands and over 30,000 Viten Orsha.

10 People attended qualifying games. Only one group mini-tournament had to be played behind closed doors and no games were called off. Thiago Bolinha In the opening preliminary round, on the ball for history was made by old and new. ACCS. Diamant Linz became the first Austrian side to successfully negotiate a round of ON THE ROAD. UEFA futsal competition, while 42-year- old Rizvan Farzaliyev, ever-present for Araz Nax ivan, equalled L cio's record of TO RIGA. 69 UEFA futsal club appearances. The top seeds entered in the main round, with former winners including Benfica, Kairat Almaty and Bar a progressing. Spanish debutants Levante joined them, as did the only side to survive from the preliminary round, Halad s. Holders Sporting CP advanced too, alongside an ACCS Asni res Villeneuve 92 team who pushed 2021.