Unbeaten first week in Europe

Hesper all set for surprise

Arguably the hardest task the Luxembourgish contingent have had to face in the early rounds of Europe so far was the challenge that awaited reigning champions Swift Hesperange, who were drawn one of the highest-coefficient seeded teams in Slovan Bratislava in the Champions League’s first qualifying round.

The first game since Carlos Fangueiro took over was to mark a new era for Swift, who also lost their top scorer in 2022/23, Rayan Philippe, who earned a move to Germany after a staggeringly prolific breakthrough season. The club’s staff didn’t hesitate, making wholesale changes to the squad in order to strengthen appropriately for the first Champions League game in Hesperange’s history.

They could hardly have wished for a tougher task than Slovan, who are eyeing a straight route to the group stage of the elite club competition, their team bolstered by international stars such as Slovakia midfielder Juraj Kucka or Canada’s number one, Milan Borjan.

Despite the stakes and superior opposition though, the Luxembourgers were all but fazed to play at Slovakia’s Tehelné Pole stadium. Fangueiro’s balanced line-up choices between established starters and new arrivals also provided the required chemistry for players to rely on existing partnerships instead of feeling like they need their game built up from scratch.

Surprisingly, there were a few hairy moments from Slovan defenders early on that could have been exploited from the attackers, especially after one of Borjan’s misplaced distributions under pressure that resulted in a wasted opportunity from Hesper striker Blankson Anoff. Of course it prompted the team to sustain the high pressing and keep a high line in defence too, given the Slovakians’ ill-anticipation of that style.

It reaped its reward soon enough, when Slovan’s Georgian centre-back kicked Bryan Nouvier in the calf instead of making a clearance, which resulted in an obvious penalty call from the referee. Dominik Stolz scored from 11 metres out with the same composure he had shown throughout all of last season, when he finished only behind ex-teammate Philippe on the scoring charts. Unfortunately the home side’s shock didn’t last long, as they did well to earn a free kick opportunity from a dangerous position. And when a taker as dangerous as former Manchester City and Fenerbahçe winger and club captain Vladimír Weiss is on your team, you have to fancy your chances. Unfortunately for Hesper, Weiss did indeed curve the ball past the wall (and Slovan’s fake wall blocking Géordan Dupire’s view), right by the far post.

Despite the equaliser, it was Swift who continued being more confident and comfortable in the game, continuously looking to build up attacks and cause danger. And an incident prior to half-time gave them the perfect platform for that: one of Slovan’s experienced leaders, Juraj Kucka, was sent off with a straight red card after losing his patience in a duel against Négo Ekofo and eventually biting the upper body of his opponent while on the ground. The resulting brawl could easily have gotten out of hand had it not been for the Video Assistant Referee, whose confirmation of Kucka’s foul settled the dispute and cooled the Slovakians’ temper.

In the second half, the battle continued, with Hesper players undoubtedly starting to show signs of fatigue as time went on and Slovan tried more and more of the lobbed balls behind the defence into space. As a reaction to that, Fangueiro had two sensible choices and made both: the first being using up all his five substitutes before the control of the match would be ceded, and the second adjusting the defensive style a little, settling for a mid-block that leaves less space in behind and focuses more on overloading the midfield positions to prevent smooth ball progression.

These changes worked and Slovan’s players were understandably getting frustrated by their lack of success and the occasional time-wasting from Hesper’s part, but as long as the ball was in play and the Luxembourgers in possession, there was nothing to be done about it. And in the end, Hesperange did hold out for a draw away from home, which is a blessed situation ahead of the second leg at Stade de Luxembourg. Although still underdogs, the Holleschberg boys can now look forward to the return leg with plenty of home support and an absolutely realistic chance of going through.

F91 still on track, Progrès threw away lead

Although neither of the Europa Conference League teams from the Grand Duchy lost either, their success is to be judged more cautiously.

For a start, both F91 Dudelange and Progrès played at home, meaning the all-deciding second leg will be played in front of raucous Irish and Kosovar crowds respectively, both sets of fans urging their team to turn the tide in a hostile atmosphere.

Secondly, Dudelange’s conceded goal in the last minute didn’t help their chances by a lot. To get some of the facts right: Jamath Shoffner’s F91 worked incredibly well in the first half. The new signings in attack look extremely sharp and ready to fill the void left by the departures of Dejvid Sinani and João Magno. The defensive organisation looked well-drilled despite the short pre-season and even the newest signings slotted in effortlessly.

On the other hand, the team’s drop in performance in the second half suggests more concentration and stamina is needed to be able to perform consistently throughout the 90 minutes. Besides that, as soon as opponents St. Patrick’s Athletic started having to chase the scoreline, they did it with success, pinning F91 back often and provoking mistakes. All things considered, a win is a promising first sign from Dudelange and the perfect foundations to build upon in Ireland, but the tie is far from decided and another strong showing will be needed to progress to the second round, where F91 could face Maltese Gzira United or Glentoran from Northern Ireland.

As for Niedercorn, their situation is way more complicated. As outstanding favourites against SC Gjilani, the Stade Municipal in Differdange had every reason to anticipate a win for the Wasps, potentially even putting the tie beyond doubt after the first 90 minutes.

The only major departee, Elias Filet, seemed to have been replaced properly, while Progrès announced a handful of other arrivals from France.

Just as with F91, it didn’t look particularly bad. The attacking structure was impressive with four players linking up with the ball, and we could see flashes of individual brilliance from two of them, as Mayron de Almeida and Omar Natami both scored beautiful goals to get Progrès the lead twice.

Unfortunately what caused the hosts’ undoing was the two calamitous errors at the back resulting in two silly penalties. Gjilani’s striker Ramadani converted them both with ease and thus provided the Kosovars with an easy pathway back into the tie.

Progrès only have themselves to blame after a frustrating game against tough opponents, who seemed quite well-versed in the sort of ‘dark arts’ that can avoid the referees’ attention and yield favourable results. It will certainly count for even more next week in Kosovo, where Gjilani will also have the stadium’s total backing as a vehement group of ultras look to be preparing to make an impression on Niedercorn’s team when they take to the pitch in Prishtina. It will be a challenging atmosphere, but if

Progrès can avoid the sloppy mistakes and a nervy display, the sheer difference in quality should be getting them through. In the second round, Danish giants Midtjylland await.