Conference League Matchday 2 Preview

A week on from the UEFA Conference League beginning its sixth group phase, Europe's third tier club competition returns with its second matchday of play. Fourteen clubs were victorious in the opening round, while eight played to stalemates. The other 14 are now under pressure early on, and will want to get on the board as soon as possible.

Ahead of Thursday's play, a preview of each match to take place.

København With Another Difficult Clash

Thursday's football will begin at 16:30 with a match between Kairat Almaty and Panathinaikos. Now playing in a group phase for the third time in their history, Kairat have yet to earn a result at this point in Europe. With just two home wins in their last nine (2-2-5), Sary-Qaralar have only scored four times during that stretch. For Panathinaikos, this will be their first crack at a Kazakh team. The Greek side won all three of their away matches in qualifying 2-1. However, in their other Conference League proper appearance two years ago, they went 1-1-3.

Iberia 1999 will likely have the best chance to collect any points at home to Mjällby. This is the second consecutive campaign in which Iberia will face a club from Sweden, having lost both legs of their Champions League first qualifying round tie against Malmö. Across all of their home games all-time, the Georgians are 3-2-8. Mjällby ended a four-game losing streak in continental play last week at home, but they have not won any of their three away matches. In fact, the defending Allsvenskan winners have never scored across their draw and two losses on the road.

FC Nordsjælland take on CSKA-Sofia in their clash, with both sides aiming for a first win in this season's league phase. FCN's only other home match with a Bulgarian side - a 7-1 beating of Ludogorets in their other UECL showing - saw them earn their largest European win ever. CSKA lost both of their games versus FC København in Europa League qualifying eight years ago. The Bulgarian Cup winners from last term will aim for their first win in the competition proper at the eighth attempt.

Crvena zvezda and FC København square off in the Serbian capital, making for a fascinating clash. It is a repeat matchup from the UCL penultimate qualifying round back in 2019/20, where Red Star prevailed on penalties after a pair of 1-1 draws. Crvena have not won a group phase match within the first two rounds since 2021/22. Despite the aforementioned elimination to their opponents seven years ago, FCK have never lost to a Serbian club in normal time (1-3-0). The Danes are one of six clubs to keep a clean sheet last week.

It is another very difficult ask for Jablonec, who are at home to Brighton. After a narrow loss in Germany last time out, Czechia's Jablonec earned six points in their other UECL foray five years ago, with their only win coming at home. They are unbeaten in their last seven European home matches (4-3-0). Brighton scored four on matchday 1, the joint-most on the night. Three of their five away games in Europe did see them maintain a clean sheet, though the Seagulls failed to win the other two.

In Lithuania, Kauno Žalgiris look to recover from last week's loss versus Brann. The hosts have had mixed results in continental matches at home, owning a 4-3-5 record. They were beaten 6-1 at Bodø/Glimt in UEL qualifying several summers ago, a result that marks their joint-largest reverse. Brann last took on a Lithuanian outfit six times previously, having won three of those matches. Fotballrepublikken failed to win any of their away games in the Europa League last term, going 0-2-3.

Spain's Getafe will have another opportunity to meet a Swiss team, with Lugano being the latest side to make the trip to the Estadio Colisseum. Azulones have a 1-0-3 record in their previous four against teams from Switzerland, with the defeat to Basel in the 2019/20 UEL being their last loss at home in Europe. Lugano came out on top last Thursday, making it five UECL league phase victories in their last seven. With that said, they were beaten in all four games against Spanish sides, all of which came in the now-defunct UEFA Cup Winners Cup.

Inter Club d'Escaldes make their group phase home debut against Romanian outfit CS Universitatea Craiova. The Andorran side took down FCSB at home in Champions League qualifying last term starting a run of five matches without defeat at home (2-3-0). CSU Craiova grabbed a win at Rapid Wien in the league phase last fall, which was their only result during their maiden appearance at this stage. Including qualifying, Alb-albaștrii have lost seven of 11 away games in the Conference League (3-1-7).

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An opportunity arises for Pafos and Riga FC, who do battle in Cyprus. The former have had a strong home record in continental play, winning four of five in their other UECL voyage two years ago. Only once have they been kept off the scoresheet in a European home clash. Riga are currently on their longest-ever unbeaten streak in Europe, which sits at eight (5-3-0). Moreover, the Latvians did not lose on the road this summer. Now the goal for them will be to do what they failed to do during their last appearance in the UECL proper: get a win.

After a solid showing last time out, Trabzonspor host Hearts. The Turkish club have never won both of their opening two games in a group phase. They did come out on top in all four home matches in the UEL group stage four years ago. This is the second time that Hearts will battle a side from Türkiye at this point of the Conference League, losing both games to İstanbul Başakşehir back in 2021/22. The Jam Tarts have not kept an away clean sheet in their last 11 attempts.

Match of the Round: Ajax vs Atalanta

The match of the round for UECL week 2 sees four-time European Cup champions Ajax face 2023/24 Europa League victors Atalanta.

Having scored 30 times from their last 10 in Europe, Ajax enter the game off the back of a shock defeat at Hajduk Split last week. The Dutch giants prevailed in all three home qualifiers, scoring 12 times in the process. With that said, they have not defeated an Italian team in almost a decade, losing six of eight subsequent clashes. That includes a 1-0 home defeat to Atalanta in the 2021/22 UCL group stage, with the reverse fixture drawn.

La Dea are in this season's UECL after competing in the Champions League in back-to-back years. They are unbeaten so far in the Conference League through three matches, including a 1-0 success over Hapoel Tel Aviv in the playoff round. Before the win on their travels in August, Atalanta lost their last three on the road in the UCL. Their previously mentioned games with Ajax are their only meetings with a Dutch opponent in Europe.

Monaco, Freiburg Look For Upper Edge

Denmark's AGF Aarhus strive for a reaction as they welcome Egnatia. The Superliga holders fell in Belgium last week, stretching their losing streak in Europe to four games. De Hvii'e will be up against an Albanian outfit for the first time. Egnatia earned a valuable point at home to Midtjylland in their opening fixture, a maiden clash for them versus a Danish side. Their away record in Europe has not been great though, losing their last two, while being winless in five.

A big match will take place between AS Monaco and Freiburg in what is another tasty all-Pot 1 game. Les Monegasques have a strong record historically versus German teams, going 7-2-2. Their last match, however, did see them be eliminated from the Europa League by Bayer Leverkusen. For Freiburg, they have a 4-1-1 record in previous clashes with Ligue 1 opposition, with their only defeat also coming in their most recent outing with Lille to conclude the UEL league phase back in January.

FC Midtjylland host Sint-Truiden, with the hosts seeing a chance to bounce back from a shock draw last Thursday. Since their defeats to Anderlecht in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, Hedens Drenge have yet to lose to a Belgian side in four games (3-1-0). That includes a 1-0 success over Genk last year in the Europa League. Sint-Truiden prevailed in both of their European home matches this term, but lost their only away game in Cyprus. This is their debut season in a major UEFA club competition.

Swiss champs Thun aim for their third group phase ever as they take on Hajduk Split. Thirteen years on from beating Rapid Wien in the UEL, Thun have yet to win a group stage or league phase match. They did go unbeaten at home during the qualifying stage, scoring six times. They will be up for a challenge though, as Hajduk announced themselves quite well on matchday 1 on their return to group phase play 16 years on from their last foray. Their only tie with a Swiss side saw them beat Grasshoppers on away goals 23 years ago.

A huge clash will take place in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Borac Banja Luka meet KuPS Kuopio. In what is a key matchup in the UEFA coefficient ranking, Borac will fancy their chances. They did not lose any of their five home games in their UECL appearance two seasons back (2-3-0). Moreover, KuPS have just one victory in their last nine in European away matches, which came in UCL qualifying back in July. This is their first-ever meeting with a Bosnian club.

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In Gibraltar, Lincoln Red Imps play at home to Twente in what is a maiden contest between Gibraltarian and Dutch teams in Europe. The hosts won two of their three home games in the UECL a year ago, collecting all seven of their points at Europa Sports Park. With that said, they went 1-2-1 in qualifying in the comforts of their home. Twente, making their debut in the Conference League proper, scored nine times in their away matches this past summer, going 1-2-0. They do have five draws in their last seven road clashes at this stage in Europe.

Sporting Braga and Gent will meet in Portugal in what is a repeat clash from a Europa League group phase meeting from a decade ago. Both previous games ended level between the two, with Braga having just one win over Belgian teams in 10 matches (1-5-4). After their disappointing defeat last week, they will want to bounce back quickly. For Gent, they have yet to lose in normal time this season. De Buffalo's have just one win in their last three UECL group phase appearances on the road, which came at Breiðablik three years ago.