Are Luxembourg's football clubs ready for Europe?

As has been customary for the last couple of years, Luxembourg was allotted four spots across the three elite continental competitions.

Differdange, coming off the back of two successive league titles and a domestic double, will compete in the UEFA Champions League, while the other representatives – UNA Strassen, F91 Dudelange and Racing Union Luxembourg – qualified for the UEFA Conference League's preliminary rounds. Three of the four clubs embark on their respective adventures this week, with only Strassen handed an automatic pass to the next round – where they will face Scotland’s Dundee United – thanks to the country’s coefficient ranking over the next five years.
 
Compared to more established teams at the pinnacle of the game, Luxembourg’s assets are often unknown quantities. The player trading market is volatile thanks to a lack of professional contracts, resulting in a whirlwind of signings and some fundamental changes at staff level during the summer break.

What has changed since we last saw the three teams play?

FCD double down after losing biggest star

Title defenders Differdange have taken an aggressive approach with their recruitment over the summer, exploiting their ever-expanding scouting network and agent connections in Portugal, South America, and even Africa. A glut of players have arrived to outline the board’s ambitions of qualifying for the league phase of one of the three tournaments – the current roster will undoubtedly be deep enough to manage the extra workload should that happen.

Last season’s defensive injury woes have been dealt with sufficiently, as three new centre-backs should ensure quality replacements this time around. João Ricciulli and Diogo Ramos arrived from Portugal, while Fonseca Mendes is a talent from nearby Jeunesse Esch’s academy. Luis Jakobi and Bruninho will be the team’s new midfield options. Jakobi is arriving after stints in Germany, Hungary, and Serbia over the last three years, while Bruninho can bring valuable top-flight experience, having played for Portugal’s Portimonense.

The bone of contention heading into 2025/26 will arguably be finding an ideal replacement for Guillaume Trani, the league’s most valuable player for the last two seasons in a row. Trani has decided to head for the professional world, and Red Star Paris were first to get his services on a free transfer.

The Frenchman is an incisive natural playmaker adept at playing in small spaces and picking the best option in an instant; traits that have been rare to come across in this Differdange squad.

Several candidates were drafted to try and fill the enormous gap, and the CVs look eye-catching. Amine Haboubi left the Tunisian top tier for FCD (where he has mainly played up top, but early signs suggest his role will change in Europe). Edgar Pacheco has played in the Bulgarian first division and has enjoyed a professional career before arriving in the Grand Duchy. Rafa Pinto spent years in Benfica’s youth ranks and has a similar profile and build to predecessor Trani.

Striker was another position in need of reinforcements, as last season’s signing, André Mendy, is set to be sidelined until the end of the calendar year with a cruciate ligament tear. The biggest name has arrived for this position so far: Boris Mfoumou is a 20-year-old current Cameroon international arriving from his homeland with hopes of carving out a professional career using the Grand Duchy as his stepping stone.

A more proven option has also been signed, as BGL Ligue veteran Samir Hadji put pen to paper on a short-term contract after leaving F91 Dudelange due to disagreements with the board’s ambitions. There is already a plethora of options at the manager’s disposal for the two spots up front, as Andreas Buch, Adham El Idrissi and Artur Abreu remain on the club’s books, too.

The manager in charge of making these tough decisions has also changed. Pedro Resende bid farewell to the club after three highly successful seasons, and has been replaced with 33-year-old Pedro Silva, who worked as a youth coach in Portugal’s lower divisions for the past three years. He might be lacking in reputation and experience, but results suggest he is adapting quickly.

Without changing Resende’s system and formation from last season, the team went through their entire pre-season preparation unbeaten. Another positive for Differdange has been their ability to keep their most valuable assets, restricting this summer’s damage to only losing Trani apart from fringe players and youngsters.

FCD’s opponents Drita will have home advantage in the first leg, and are widely seen to have the upper hand in a nonetheless exciting and evenly-matched tie. A win would massively help Differdange’s league phase ambitions.

F91 take risks with fresh start

Long gone are the years of Europa League participation at Stade Jos Nosbaum. Dudelange have been heavily restricted in their spending for the last few years, and their cost-control measures result in a continuous shift in expectations.

This year, young manager Mika Pinto was given a tough task: building a squad without a senior striker, the two most-used midfielders, two of the most reliable defenders, their biggest young talent, and all the senior goalkeepers from last season’s lineups.

A few days ahead of their first European game, it is starting to take shape in more or less all positions. Adrien Pianelli arrives from Corsica with bags of experience to replace the injury-prone Vincent Decker, while Eldin Latik will provide at least one option in goal until further signings can be announced.

Midfielders Charles Morren and Belmin Muratović are not new to the league anymore (Morren being a former F91 player from the glory days), more than capable of replacing the departing Bruno Freire and Filip Bojić. A third new face, Tudor Neamţiu, has been lured away from Hungarian side Győr to fill the shoes of young prospect Miguel Gonçalves, who is trying to boost his national team chances by moving to Germany for a year.

For the attacking positions, they have sealed two new signings in less than a week: Dinho and Agostinho are both old friends of manager Pinto from their time at Leixões. Attacking midfielder Evan Rotundo has also been used as a false nine at friendly games, and could potentially stay there for the meantime.

Dudelange’s opponents are coincidentally the same as this time last year: Atlètic Andorra’s side has not experienced quite the same overhaul, but F91 are still regarded as favourites for now. Anything beyond that, though, requires a lot more firepower.

Racing FCUL rise again

The last years in Racing Union Luxembourg’s history have been unsettling and turbulent, from unexpected highs to irresponsible spending and the inevitable lows. They are rising from the grave again – but this time, it might be a different story.

Their current board, headlined by Karine Reuter and goalkeeper-turned-director Romain Ruffier has made significant steps to make the club more sustainable and build up a safe structure, a framework within which the club can continuously improve step by step, without seriously overspending their limits as they did in the past.

The latest spending spree was necessitated by the departures of recent years’ players, leftovers of a bygone era. Delvin Skenderović retired to become staff member, Denis Ahmetxhekaj, Dinan Amiri, Lenny Correia, Moussa Seydi, Liam Nurenberg, and Elvin Šabanović stay in the country but drop down in quality, while the crown jewel – cup winner Yann Mabella – decided to leave for Malaysia.

Mabella’s replacement is one of the league’s only attackers that could provide an upgrade on him, in former F91 and Hesperange game changer Dominik Stolz, who still seems to be at the peak of his powers at the age of 35.

A host of new additions have been brought from France, too. Mathys Saban, Enzo Daoud, and Simba Matubanzila are all attackers, while Carmel Mabanza is a defensive midfielder to replace Ahmetxhekaj and Henri Dupays. Besides Bruno Freire, Racing also acquired Conrad Azong (Strassen) and Patricio Sancho (Alisontia Steinsel) from within the country as useful bench options. Thibaut Lesquoy arrives from Virton after previously featuring in the Europa League in Dudelange’s glory days.

Pre-season results have been a mixed bag, but Yannick Kakoko has plenty of time to experiment. The German was one of the best managers last year, and only has a limited number of positions with new selection headaches apart from his trusted XI from 2024/25.

Unfortunately, the Sky Blues have to travel all the way to Georgia in the first round, to face a more experienced Dila Gori side. While the 'Guarders' head into this tie in the middle of their domestic season and come from a professional league, an upset is always on the cards for this one.

Schedule

8 July, 8pm: Drita (Kosovo) vs Differdange
10 July, 4pm: Atlètic Escaldes (Andorra) vs F91 Dudelange
10 Juy, 6.30pm: Racing Luxembourg vs Dila Gori (Georgia)