Conference League: La Fiorita head to Kosovo, Podeschi appointed in Reykjavik

Not just Tre Fiori, Tre Penne and La Fiorita. San Marino football is also represented in Europe by its match officials, in this case by Stefano Podeschi: UEFA has in fact appointed him as Referee Observer for KR Reykjavik-Pogon tomorrow evening (kick-off at 20:15). The match will be played in the Icelandic capital, after the clear victory for the Polish side in the first leg (4-1), which effectively gives them a strong advantage in the race to qualify for the next round, where – unless KR Reykjavik stage a comeback – Pogon will face Danish side Brøndby. The refereeing team is from Northern Ireland and will be led by Davey. His assistants will be Agryropoulos and Kelsey, with Clarke acting as fourth official. It is the eve of the return legs for Tre Fiori and Tre Penne, following their debut matches last Thursday, which had completely opposite outcomes. While the San Marino runners-up suffered a bitter ending, conceding twice in stoppage time to Bosnia’s Tuzla City, Tre Fiori can look forward to a second leg in which they will aim to build on their win in Luxembourg. Andy Selva’s side intend to make the most of the first away victory ever recorded by a Sammarinese club in European competitions: tomorrow at the San Marino Stadium, the clash with Fola Esch – with a place in Conference League Q2 at stake – will kick off at 20:45. By then, the return match between Tuzla City and Tre Penne will already have finished: in Bosnia they play at 18:00, restarting from last week’s 0-2 scoreline. In the meantime, La Fiorita have discovered their Conference League opponents: the champions of San Marino, after performing well in the Champions League Preliminary Round, will enter the Europa Conference League at Q2. Already certain to play the first leg at home, the Gialloblù were simply waiting to find out the identity of their future opponents, to emerge from the two-legged tie between Zalgiris and Ballkani. The Lithuanians edged it over the 180 minutes and therefore progress in the Champions League qualifying path. For Kosovo side Ballkani, the journey resumes in the Conference League and, specifically, with a tie against La Fiorita. The first leg will be played at the San Marino Stadium on Tuesday 19 July 2022, with kick-off at 20:45, while the return match is scheduled for 26 July (kick-off time to be confirmed).

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