Valur's Icelandic reign goes on

Valur Reykjavík clinched their fifth straight Icelandic title with an 8-1 defeat of Afturelding to complete the double and put themselves in good shape for their UEFA Women's Champions League round of 32 tie with Rayo Vallecano de Madrid.

Having already won the Icelandic Cup by beating Stjarnan 1-0 – as well as the Reykjavik championship, divisional cup and Champions of Champions trophy – Valur added the national league title by moving seven points clear of Breidablik with two games to go, their nearest challengers beaten 3-2 by struggling FH Hafnarfjördur. Valur, who have only lost one league game all season, have now won nine titles and in total 100 trophies.

Coach Freyr Alexandersson said: "We set our goals high, to win every tournament, so the pressure has been on us the whole season. We can add to this list by becoming European champions and since that tournament goes into next year I guess we have done what we can."

To become European champions they must first knock out Rayo Vallecano, whom they visit on 23 September and host on 13 October, to earn a last-16 tie against ŽFK Mašinac or Arsenal LFC. "Though we will give our all in the remaining games in Iceland, the focus is mostly on the battle in Madrid," the 28-year-old coach said. "I got some information from their games and also [Spanish] national-team games, where Rayo Vallecano have key players, and also got a friend to spy on the team so I got a good report, which is more than we had for last year's European games.

"I think our chances are fairly good, this will be a different and difficult task as they play different football than we do in Iceland – a more southern style with small and fast players – but we can get good results. We will focus on one game at a time, our goal is to come home with results that make it possible for us to go through. We are not there to make up the numbers."