Conference league: Slavia to be dwarfed, Slovaks still 100 percent

The first preliminary round of the European Conference League is over and except for one case it did not offer any major surprises. The Finnish, Polish and Slovak clubs are celebrating a 100% success rate and Slavia already knows its opponent.

Slavia will play Gibraltar’s St. Joseph’s in the second round. The outsider of the pair played goalless at home, in the rematch Northern Ireland’s Larne went down to ten in the 79th minute and Joseph’s from the ensuing standard decided to advance.

Two Slovakian clubs are also continuing in the competition. Dunajská Streda defeated Clifnonville of Northern Ireland in the second leg and advanced after a 5-1 aggregate win, while Ružomberok managed a goalless draw after a home win against Žalgiris.

Our neighbours were very successful overall. Lechia from Poland managed to win the rematch with Pandev (6:2 overall), Pogon Szczecin lost to Reykjavik 1:2, but won the home match 4:1 and advanced.

The biggest surprise is undoubtedly the end of Alashkert. The Armenian side made it to the group last year, winning their home game against Hamrun 1:0, but failed to make it through the second half in Malta and were eliminated after conceding four goals.

Otherwise, the favourites were mostly promoted, with the two Finnish clubs (KuPS, SJK), Macedonia’s Shkendija Tetovo, Montenegro’s Buducnost, Slovenia’s Mura, Belarus’ Dinamo Minsk and Luxembourg’s Fola making it to the next stage.

For a complete list of results, please visit the UEFA website.

Source: UEFA