Union SG and Lugano will begin their fight for a place in the Europa League group stage on Thursday, when they meet in Belgium in the first leg of their playoff-round tie.
The two sides both enter European qualifying at this stage after third-placed finishes in the Belgian and Swiss top flights respectively last term, with both guaranteed a place in the group stage of either the Europa League or the Europa Conference League for the losers.
Match preview
Thanks to their third-placed finish in the Belgian Pro League last term, Union SG booked a place in this year's Europa League playoff round, with the aim of again going far in the competition after reaching the quarter-finals of their first-ever continental campaign of its kind.
After dropping out of Champions League qualifying, Les Unionistes cruised through the group stage in top spot, having collected 13 points in six outings, before beating German side Union Berlin 6-3 over two legs in the round of 16 to advance further in Europe's second competition.
The Belgian outfit would then bow out in a tough quarter-final tie against Bayer Leverkusen, and after finishing the league campaign third and seeing Karel Geraerts depart over the summer, they picked up where they left off under the new management of Alexander Blessin at the start of this term, kicking off with three straight Belgian Pro League triumphs over Anderlecht, Standard Liege and Leuven.
They do now head into Thursday's test on the back of their first setback, though, having suffered a 4-0 beating away at Mechelen on Saturday as Kerim Mrabti, Geoffry Hairemans, Rafik Belghali and David Bates all helped themselves to goals, and Blessin's men will be keen to quickly bounce back and get on the front foot in the home leg of their playoff tie.
They meet a visiting side who have also enjoyed a positive start to their own domestic season, ahead of their first Europa League tie since 2019.
After dropping out of Europa Conference League qualifying last term, Lugano booked their place in this year's Europa League playoff round by finishing third in the Swiss Super League, as they managed 57 points, just one behind second-placed Servette and seven clear of fourth-placed Luzern.
Mattia Croci-Torti's side then turned their focus to the new campaign with the aim of continued improvement, and they kicked off with back-to-back triumphs over Stade Lausanne-Ouchy and St Gallen, before suffering a 3-0 defeat in a tough trip to FC Zurich.
The Bianconeri would bounce back in style with a 6-1 beating of Yverdon Sport, despite going behind early on, as Jonathan Sabbatini, Shkelqim Vladi, Mattia Bottani, Milton Valenzuela and Renato Steffen all got on the scoresheet alongside an Anthony Sauthier own goal.
Now on the back of another big victory, having kicked off their Swiss Cup campaign with a 7-0 thrashing of Gunzwil in the first round courtesy of a Steffen brace and goals from Martim Marques, Vladi, Zan Celar Roman Macek and Sabbatini, Lugano will now turn their focus to Europa League qualifying with the aim of continuing to build momentum and picking up a positive result on their travels on Thursday before their home leg next week.
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Team News
Despite their recent heavy defeat to Mechelen, Alexander Blessin should deploy a similar starting XI to the ones that have featured in the early stages of the Belgian Pro League campaign, with Dennis Eckert bound to again lead the line having notched up four goals in four appearances so far this season.
He has been supported by Cameron Puertas and Mathias Rasmussen, both of whom should keep their places in a front three, with last season's top scorers Victor Boniface, Simon Adingra and Teddy Teuma no longer at the club, while Lazare Amani and Charles Vanhoutte will likely continue to partner up in the engine room.
In a 3-4-3 shape, Kevin Mac Allister, Christian Burgess and Koki Machida will again line up in defence, shielding stopper Anthony Moris.
Lugano could field an identical starting XI to the one that featured in the 6-1 thrashing of Yverdon Sport in the Swiss Super League in mid-August, with Shkelqim Vladi set to lead the line having scored in that game and their recent cup beating of Gunzwil.
Renato Steffen found the net three times across those two games and will again feature on the right-hand side in a supporting trio behind Vladi, likely alongside Mattia Bottani and Yanis Cimignani, although Zan Celar is also fighting for an attacking spot.
Veteran midfielder Jonathan Sabbatini continues to play a key role in the engine room next to Uran Bislimi, while Albian Hajdari and Kreshnik Hajrizi should again partner up at the heart of a back four.
Union SG possible starting lineup:
Moris; Mac Allister, Burgess, Machida; Terho, Amani, Vanhoutte, Lapoussin; Puertas, Eckert, Rasmussen
Lugano possible starting lineup:
Saipi; Arigoni, Hajrizi, Hajdari, Valenzuela; Bislimi, Sabbatini; Steffen, Bottani, Cimignani; Vladi
We say: Union SG 3-1 Lugano
Lugano will travel to Belgium with confidence following their recent results, but Union SG do still boast plenty of quality even after some key departures, and we fancy Blessin's men to gain an advantage in their home leg, leaving everything still to play for next week.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Sam Varley
