FC Differdange won their first UEFA Conference League game of the season, defeating Ordabasy. However, their success wasn’t matched by Thursday’s Luxembourgish representatives F91 Dudelange and Progrès Niederkorn, who both faced professional opponents from Sweden.

After a disappointing double-header against Klaksvík, Differdange were drawn against one of the trickiest opponents in the Conference League in Ordabasy Shymkent, a team located roughly 3,000 miles from western Luxembourg.
 
Logistics were always going to be an issue for the team financially, but the most the players could contribute to their team’s success was securing an impressive result in the first leg at home, to gain extra revenue from UEFA and retain the chance of progressing ro Round 3 of the qualifiers.
 
A cagey affair brought no real highlights until the 37th minute, when Diogo Silva’s shot rattled against the crossbar. Last season’s BGL Ligue top scorer Jorginho was the quickest to reach the rebound, and headed in from close range. The teams were well-matched for the rest of the half, and the Kazakhs threatened the Luxembourgish goal several times, with neither team imposing their dominance on the other.
 
The second half was about defending the lead and picking the moments to extend it from Differdange’s point of view. The pragmatic, cautious approach suited Pedro Resende’s crew more favourably than the braver, faster attacking football shown against Klaksvík, and FCD never really lost their grasp on the game. In the closing stages, Resende even tried bringing on some attackers from his bench in new signings Andreas Buch and Gustavo, and although the pair didn’t turn many heads with their displays, these coaching decisions were the sign of confidence and composure in the lead.
 
Their reward was a 1-0 win in the first leg, which will be fundamental to keep their chances of surviving a tacky encounter in Central Asia as they embark on their journey towards the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan border in the coming days.

F91 and Progrès on the brink of peril

Following FCD’s successful start, Thursday provided two more challenging match-ups for the other Luxmebourgish teams still in the competition. Stade Jos Nosbaum hosted BK Häcken from Sweden, while their countrymen in Djurgården faced Progrès Niederkorn over in Stockholm.
 
The crowd in Dudelange were left with mixed feelings after a highly entertaining clash culminated in a 6-2 thrashing which all but ended F91’s hopes of going through. Samir Hadji’s first-hald brace from two penalties reduced the deficit to one goal shortly before the end of the first-half, but the Swedes’ devastating counter-attacks were left unanswered by Marco Martino and his staff, as no defensive game plan was devised.
 
Instead, as the goals kept coming and the hole was deeper and deeper, Dudelange tried to climb back and get themselves in a slightly less fatal position ahead of the game in Sweden. Their efforts brought no success despite an unrelenting approach in attack and admirable bravery with the ball. Häcken’s agile attackers punished F91’s naivety time and again, scoring from six of their seven shots on target.
 
Progrès fared somewhat better against Djurgården at the other game, protecting the 0-0 scoreline for 21 minutes. The lead was doubled merely six minutes later by a goal from Turkish striker Deniz Hümmet, who proceeded to score the third and final goal of the night on the hour mark.
 
Despite a result that might seem like a battering, Niederkorn had more than twice as many shots as their opponents (7 vs 16) and also produced more shots on target (3 vs 4). The lack of any end product was also down to the departure of elite striker Walid Jarmouni to Albania. His replacement, Junior Burban, was deemed unfit to play the whole 90 minutes, and second-choice option Antoine Mazure failed to make his mark on the game at this showpiece occasion.
 
Last year, after a defeat in similar circumstances against Midtjylland, Progrès were able to bounce back in Luxembourg and took the game to the Danish giants, making a push for a shock win before they lost in extra time. This time, however, their situation looks considerably bleaker given the three-goal gap and the fact Djurgården are in peak match sharpness, as the Swedish league is well underway in contrast to the Luxembourgish one (or the Danish league last year, for that matter).
 
All in all, having a team in the Conference League’s third qualifying round is a step in the right direction from Luxembourg. While it may take a miracle to see either of F91 or Niederkorn progress, they can be proud of their uncompromising, brave, attacking mindsets and the fact a little bit of luck in front of goal could have turned both ties on their heads.
 
Dudelange will play the second leg of their tie on Wednesday from 19:00, while the other two teams can make their claims for a place in Round 3 on Thursday afternoon (Ordabasy vs Differdange: 17:00, Niederkorn vs Djurgården: 19:00).