The New Saints and Caernarfon Town have secured their place in the second European qualifying round, while Connah’s Quay and Bala Town’s European adventures have come to an end.
A 1-1 draw in the capital city of Montenegro last Tuesday night was enough for The New Saints to seal their place in the second qualifying round of the Champions League following their 3-0 home win in the opening leg against FK Dečić.
Welsh champions, The New Saints will face Hungarian champions, Ferencváros as the Saints aim to reach the third qualifying round of the Champions League for only the second time in their history, and for the first time since 2010.
There was a dramatic end to each of the other three ties which included Welsh clubs last week, starting with Caernarfon Town in Northern Ireland on Wednesday night.
After winning the first leg 2-0 against Crusaders, Caernarfon Town looked comfortable going into the break at Belfast since Paolo Mendes had put the Cofis 3-0 up on aggregate.
But Crusaders fought back in the second half at Seaview, scoring three times to take the game to penalties, and it seemed that the Cofi Army’s bubble was about to burst.
But it was Richard Davies and the Canaries who were celebrating in the end with Marc Williams scoring the winning spot kick to ensure that Caernarfon Town will face Legia Warszawa in the second qualifying round of the Europa Conference League.
Then on Thursday night, there was heartbreak for Bala Town and Connah’s Quay with both teams conceding late in extra time to end their European campaigns.
After losing 2-1 in the first leg, Bala captain Nathan Peate’s header had ensured that extra time was needed in the second leg against Paide Linnameeskond from Estonia.
But the Estonians struck a special goal to win the round with only seconds left to play, and the Bala boys were sent home disappointed, losing 3-2 over the two legs.
Connah’s Quay were also extremely unlucky, holding their ground for 88 minutes before NK Bravo from Slovenia scored to take their tie to extra time as well.
And with 116 minutes on the clock, the heavy blow came for the Nomads with the visitors netting and securing a 2-1 win over both legs.
Therefore, its The New Saints and Caernarfon who are left flying the flag for Wales in the second round, as they travel to Hungary and Poland this week.
Ferencváros (Hungary) v The New Saints | Tuesday, 23 July – 19:00
(Groupama Aréna, Budapest – First Leg of Champions League Second Qualifying Round 2024/25)
Following their 4-1 aggregate victory over Montenegrin champions, FK Dečić, The New Saints have ensured that they are within one win of reaching one of Europe’s main competitions.
If the Saints were to lose against Ferencváros, Craig Harrison’s side would drop into the third qualifying round of the Europa League, and even if they lost that tie, then there would be another chance to progress in the UEFA Conference League play-off.
Which means that TNS are guaranteed to play at least six more games in Europe this year, but reaching one of the main competitions is still the aim for the Oswestry outfit.
Since 1996 the New Saints have played 80 games in Europe winning 18 of those (23%), and in 41 European rounds the club has progressed on 10 occasions (24%).
Their best run came in the 2010/11 season – despite winning only one round that year (against Bohemians in the second qualifying round of the Champions League), before losing against Anderlecht, the Saints then had a play-off round to reach the Europa League group stages.
But after losing 5-2 over two legs against CSKA Sofia, the Saints continue to dream of reaching the promise land of the group stages.
After a standout season, winning the JD Cymru Premier’s Golden Boot award, last year’s top scorer, Brad Young has started the new campaign on fire, netting three goals against FK Dečić in the first qualifying round.
The Saints have therefore progressed to the second qualifying round of the Champions League for the first time since 2019, to face Ferencváros from Hungary.
Budapest’s Ferencváros are the most successful club in all of Hungary’s history with 35 championships to their name, winning six of those on the bounce since 2018.
The squad is full of international players and the Hungarians are clear favourites after reaching the last 16 of the Europa League last season where they lost to Bayer Leverkusen after finishing top of a group that included Trabzonspor, Monaco and Red Star Belgrade.
The first leg will be held at Groupama Aréna (Ferencváros Stadion), which is the stadium where Wales lost 1-0 against Hungary in June 2019 in the Euro 2020 qualifiers.
The winners of this round will face either UE Santa Coloma (Andorra) or FC Midtjylland (Denmark) in the third qualifying round, while the losers will drop into the Europa League to play either APOEL (Cyprus) or FC Petrocub Hîncești (Moldova).
Legia Warszaw (Poland) v Caernarfon Town | Thursday, 25 July – 19:45
(Stadion Wojska Polskiego, Warszawa – First Leg of UEFA Conference League Second Qualifying Round 2024/25)
After reaching Europe for the first time in their history, the dream is getting sweeter for the Cofis following a special victory on penalties against Crusaders from Northern Ireland.
Although Caernarfon Town were three goals ahead at the break in the second leg, Crusaders fought back, and it finished 3-3 on aggregate before the game went to penalties.
Caernarfon Town’s 19-year-old goalkeeper Stephen McMullan, who is on loan from Fleetwood, was born in Belfast and it was a memorable night for the young man as he saved two penalties and scored one himself.
But it was the experienced, Marc Williams who took the crucial kick to secure the victory for Caernarfon and the 400 fans who had travelled from Caernarfon celebrated in some style in Belfast.
But no fans will be allowed to venture into the stadium in Poland as the match against Legia Warszaw has to be played behind closed doors due to past problems with the home crowd.
Legia Warszaw are the most successful club in all of Poland’s history, and their crowd are known for being passionate and fiery.
The club from the capital of Poland have played over 250 games in Europe reaching the group stage on seven occasions since 2011, and beating teams such as Aston Villa, Leicester City, Sporting Lisbon and Celtic recently.
The second leg will be played on Thursday night, 1 August with the winners advancing to face either Brøndby IF (Denmark) or KF Llapi 1932 (Kosovo) in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League.
