European Cups: narrow defeats for Tre Fiori and La Fiorita

The 2026-27 football season officially kicked off last night with the first matches of the European club competitions for Sammarinese teams. There were two defeats, both by a single goal, for Tre Fiori and La Fiorita, but neither result compromises qualification for Girolomoni’s and Ceci’s sides ahead of the return legs. The only Sammarinese club to play at home this week was Tre Fiori, who faced Northern Irish side Larne at the Stadium yesterday in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. Very little happened in the opening quarter of an hour, with both teams looking for openings but struggling to produce clear chances in the sweltering summer heat. Larne began to show more around Nardi’s goal and the best opportunity came just before the cooling break: Sami gave away a bad ball on the edge of the box and Bent, the visitors’ liveliest player, pounced and lined up his shot, but hit it weakly into Nardi’s arms. Haveron’s side grew into the game and, shortly before the half hour, threatened again with a brilliant first touch from Gibson on a long ball; the forward then shot, taking the effort away from his strike partner Lusty – who was better placed – but Rea closed down superbly and cleared. Tre Fiori held firm and hit back: on 37 minutes D’Addario controlled on the right and combined excellently with Prandelli, who returned the ball in a fine one-two. The Sammarinese winger broke into the area but was unable to pull the trigger at the crucial moment. The game became increasingly entertaining, and a minute later it took a brilliant save from Nardi to deny Gibson again from close range. Just when a goalless first half seemed on the cards, Larne produced the decisive touch to break the deadlock. In the first of two added minutes, a cross from captain Cosgrove was headed on by McClelland, who nodded into the six-yard box for Lusty; he got in front of Rea and then beat Nardi. The sides went in with the Northern Irish 1-0 up.

After the break it was Tre Fiori who raised the tempo and created more chances. Among the various openings, the clearest came on 53 minutes with a ball over the top for D’Addario – who had timed his run perfectly – and he delivered a superb cross into the middle, but no team-mate in yellow and blue could get the final touch. The contest remained balanced, with coaches Girolomoni and Haveron both reshaping their teams from the bench. The match ticked by until the 78th minute, when Larne seemingly doubled their lead: Sirri was building from the back, Ukek robbed him of possession and squared for the completely unmarked Lusty, who drove towards goal and beat Nardi again. It appeared to be game over, but the referee was called over to the VAR monitor. After reviewing the incident, the match official ruled that Ukek had fouled Sirri. The goal was therefore disallowed, and the Northern Irish advantage remained just the single goal. Tre Fiori were buoyed and pushed on. Shortly before the 90th minute, Dolcini combined well with Manara – both recent substitutes – and the Sammarinese midfielder crossed for the striker, who attempted an acrobatic effort, only for the ball to cannon off Ukek. The sides fought to the very end despite their tired legs and, in the fourth of five added minutes, there was a superb solo run from Magee, who set off from just inside Tre Fiori’s half and caused chaos in the home backline, but when he finally pulled the trigger, Mattia Sancisi produced a vital block to halt the Northern Irishman’s progress. Gasparyan then blew for full time. Larne edge it by a single goal, but with next week’s second leg in Belfast, qualification remains very much alive for Tre Fiori.

La Fiorita were also in action yesterday, kicking off at 19:15 in Luxembourg against hosts UNA Strassen in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League. The first half belonged to the Luxembourgers, who went close on a couple of occasions: Vivan was outstanding to deny Rastoder (43’), who tried again shortly afterwards but saw his effort crash against the post. The sides went in level at 0-0. After the restart UNA Strassen continued to dictate the play, while La Fiorita dug in and managed to hold the draw until five minutes from time. On 85 minutes, however, a contentious free-kick on the edge of the area (Djuric on Seye) led to the hosts’ winner: Perez went for goal directly and the ball took a deflection off Cicarelli, leaving Vivan with no chance. The tie was thus decided by a fortuitous own goal, but with the return leg at the Stadium in a week’s time, La Fiorita are still fully entitled to believe in a comeback.

The last Sammarinese team to take the field will be Virtus, who are in action tomorrow evening in Georgia against Dila Gori (kick-off at 20:00 local time, 18:00 in San Marino), also in the first qualifying round of the Conference League.

UEFA Champions League 2026-27, First Qualifying Round (first leg) | Tre Fiori – Larne 0-1

TRE FIORI (3-4-1-2)

Nardi; Syku, Rea (63’ Pesaresi), Sirri; D’Addario (57’ Ponticelli), Bertani, Sami, Mengucci (57’ Sancisi); Benedettini (78’ Benedettini); Prandelli, Bernardi (78’ Manara)

Substitutes: Castagnoli, Berardi, Censoni, Ben Kacem, Terenzi

Head coach: Danilo Girolomoni

LARNE (3-5-2)

Ferguson; Ridley, McClelland (46’ Magee), Donelly; Cosgrove, Bent, Gallagher, Doherty (63’ McEneff), S. Graham (87’ Simpson); Gibson (63’ Ukek), Lusty (78’ O’Hara)

Substitutes: D. Graham, Wallace, McKendry, Randall, Millar, Sloan

Head coach: Gary Haveron

Referee: Artem Gasparyan (ARM)

Assistant referees: Mesrop Ghazaryan (ARM), Arman Hakobjanyan (ARM)

Fourth official: Henrik Nalbandyan (ARM)

VAR: Angelos Evangelou (GRE)

AVAR: Zaven Hovhannisyan (ARM)

Booked: Graham, McClelland, Prandelli

Scorers: 45’ Lusty

Note: 672 spectators

UEFA Conference League 2026-27, First Qualifying Round (first leg) | UNA Strassen – La Fiorita 1-0

UNA STRASSEN (4-3-3)

Özcan; Delorge, Gueye, Agovic, Hall; Steinmetz, Rastoder (70’ Zenadji), Gonçalves (56’ Natami); Perez (88’ Tiago), De Souza (70’ Seye), Myre

Substitutes: Diogo Garrido, Marques, Sacras, Dadashev, Agovic, Toure

Head coach: Jérémy Deichelbohrer

LA FIORITA (3-5-2)

Vivan; Mazzotti, Drudi, Nava; Nigretti, Djuric, Cicarelli (85’ Nappello), Zulli (56’ Mularoni), Grandoni; Pancotti (56’ Giacopetti), Guidi (56’ Bonetti)

Substitutes: Colonna, Brighi, Bonifazi, Zazas Sanchez

Head coach: Stefano Ceci

Referee: Ihar Shumilau (BLR)

Assistant referees: Dzmitry Zhuk (BLR), Maksim Arabei (BLR)

Fourth official: Dzmitry Dzmitryieu (BLR)

Booked: De Souza, Perez

Scorers: 85’ og. Cicarelli

Note: 807 spectators