Iberia vs Malmö: UEFA Champions League Prediction (08.07.2025)

On July 8, 2025, at 23:00 WIB, the first qualifying round match of the UEFA Champions League between Iberia and Malmö will take place in Tbilisi. The reigning Swedish champions are considered the favorites by bookmakers for this encounter. Let’s look at the current form of both teams and provide a match prediction.

Iberia

Iberia are the reigning champions of Georgia and are once again strong contenders to defend their title this season. Heading into the summer break, they sat at the top of the standings with a six-point lead over their closest rivals. The capital city team also remained unbeaten after 18 rounds. However, there are some doubts regarding their current form after returning from the summer pause.

Iberia have played two matches in the Georgian Super Cup. In the semifinal, Levan Korgalidze’s side lost to Dila Gori 1–3. Then, in the third-place match against Torpedo Kutaisi, they failed to score and eventually lost in a penalty shootout.

Last season, Iberia did not reach the main stage of European competitions. They were eliminated in the semifinals of the UEFA Conference League qualifiers by Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir.

Malmö

This season has not been very successful so far for Malmö. The team is only competing for fifth place in the league standings, despite winning last year’s Swedish championship by a wide margin of 11 points. At the beginning of July, Malmö strengthened their squad by signing Sweden national team goalkeeper Robin Olsen from Aston Villa as a free agent.

Last season, Malmö came close to qualifying for the Champions League group stage, but lost in the final round of qualifiers to Sparta Prague (0–2 in both legs). They then participated in the UEFA Europa League, but failed to impress, winning only one out of eight group stage matches.

Stats and Head-to-Head Record

There is no head-to-head history between these two teams. This will be their first-ever meeting.

Prediction

For the match between Iberia and Malmö, we predict a high-scoring game. Both teams are not in peak form and have shown defensive vulnerabilities. Malmö has more experience at this level of competition and will likely try to dominate the game, while Iberia will count on support from their home fans. In this scenario, a bet on over 2 total goals at odds of 1.51 looks like a solid option.