Conference League, the return matches of the first qualifying round of the group stage are played: news and predictions.
Sixty teams on the pitch in the space of a few hours in the most diverse places in Europe in search of a pass to the second qualifying round. That’s the Conference League, baby.
Today the return matches are scheduled, a week after the first leg. The Maltese side Balzan got the better of Slovenian side Domzale at the end of a nail-biting, nine-goal match that was decided in extra time. The Finns of Honka, beaten 2-1 a week ago in the Kazakh away match against Tobol, are also looking for a comeback: there seems to be a good chance for the Finns to obtain at least a positive result in front of their public. Dinamo Minsk were caught up in the final minutes by the Bosnians of Zeljeznicar, squandering a double advantage: in the return match the Belarusians will not repeat the same mistakes. Total equilibrium in the challenge between the Albanians of Egnatia and the Armenians of Ararat (1-1), but the field factor is likely to be a determining factor in Albania. Another Armenian team, Alashkert, take to the field a few hours later. In the first round they were stopped by surprise (1-1) by Montenegrin side Arsenal Tivat, a result which forces the Yerevan club to take full advantage of the away game.
The predictions for the other matches
Ireland’s Derry City wasted a lot in the first leg against HB Torshavn but it will be a different story in front of their home crowd.
A moment in the match between Dudelange and St. Patrick’s
Returning to Ireland, qualification is still within reach for St. Patrick’s, despite losing a week ago to Dudelange in Luxembourg: 2-1 is a result that Jon Daly’s red and whites can easily overturn. There should be no shortage of goals in Milsami-Panevezys, Gjilani-Progres and Vllzania-Linfied, in which both teams are likely to score. Finally, there will be at least three goals in the Europa FC-Dukagjini, Trans Narva-Pyunik Yerevan, Zimbru Chisinau-La Fiorita, Dundalk-Bruno’s Magpies and Sarajevo-Torpedo Kutaisi matches.
Conference League: likely winners
- Honka or draw (in Honka-Tobol, 6pm)
- Dinamo Minsk (in Dinamo Minsk-Zeljeznicar, 19:00)
- Egnatia (in Egnatia-Ararat Armenia, 20:00)
- Alashkert (in FK Arsenal-Alashkert, 20:30)
- Derry City (in Derry City-HB Torshavn, 20:45)
- St. Patrick’s or draw (in St. Patrick’s-Dudelange, 20:45)