UE Santa Coloma will take on Rigas Futbola Skola at the Estadi Nacional on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round matchup.
The hosts dropped into the Europa League after a 4-0 aggregate loss to FC Midtjylland in the second qualifying round for the Champions League, while the visitors lost 7-1 to Bodo/Glimt in their tie.
Match preview
UE Santa Coloma enjoyed an excellent last season, lifting their first-ever Primera Division title with a three-point lead over second place after taking 66 points from 27 games, losing just one league match all season.
They also won the Copa Constitucio after beating FC Pas de la Casa 1-0 in the final thanks to a 116th-minute goal from Faysal Chouaib, and have already created further history this season with their first-ever victory in European competition, beating KF Ballkani in the first qualifying round of the Champions League.
UE Santa Coloma were outmatched by FC Midtjylland in the second qualifying round for Europe's most prestigious competition, resulting in them dropping into the Europa League third qualifying round.
New boss Ramon Caldere, who was appointed in June ahead of the new campaign, will be hoping his side can produce a much better performance against RFS than that 4-0 aggregate defeat, where Midtjylland had complete control of the tie.
Similarly to their hosts, RFS dropped out of the Champions League second qualifying round after a disappointing 7-1 aggregate defeat to Bodo/Glimt, following their initial 7-0 win against Larne FC in the first round.
Unlike UE Santa Coloma, the visitors are already midway through their league season and they are currently on course to win just their third-ever league title as they sit top of the division by four points with 62 points from 24 matches.
Viktors Morozs's side won their first-ever Latvian league title in 2021, following that up with their second title last year, narrowly beating rivals Riga FC by one point.
Morozs will be hoping to continue creating history with RFS by becoming the first Latvian side to qualify for a European competition on two occasions, and their fantastic away record of one loss in their last nine will give them plenty of confidence.
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Team News
The hosts will be without Pablo Perez in their defence for this game after the central defender was sent off for an accumulation of yellow cards in their last game against Midtjylland.
Youssef El Ghazoui is also a doubt after the midfielder was forced off with an injury in the 76th minute of that defeat, leaving Jorge likely to replace him in the middle of the park.
As for RFS, they are expected to be without Alfusainey Jatta as the midfielder continues his recovery from a severe injury that has kept him sidelined for an extended period.
Ismael Diomande has been in hot form in the league in recent outings, scoring seven in his last nine appearances, and the striker is anticipated to lead the line here.
UE Santa Coloma possible starting lineup:
Campagne; Lopez, Chete, Garcia, Blasco; Joaquinete, Jorge, Mohedano, Gomez; El Bakkali, Jesus
Rigas Futbola Skola possible starting lineup:
Ondoa; Savalnieks, Balodis, Lipuscek, Njie; Panic, Markhiyev; Ikaunieks, Kigurs, Kouadio; Diomande
We say: UE Santa Coloma 0-2 Rigas Futbola Skola
The visitors hold the benefit of being midway through their league season, leaving their players much more match-fit, and they will have plenty of confidence after a 5-1 win last time out, leading us to believe RFS will win here.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Ellis Stevens
