After FC Lugano on Tuesday, FC Zurich and FC St. Gallen will also kick off their European Cup campaign with home games on Thursday evening. What's in it for the two clubs?
25.07.2024, 10:30
25.07.2024, 10:50
SDA
In the first legs of the 3rd qualifying round for the Conference League, Zurich will face Irish club Shelbourne at the Letzigrund, while St. Gallen will welcome Kazakhstan's Tobol Kostanai to their home stadium. The Swiss clubs start as favorites in these duels, but must be careful: St. Gallen's opponents Kostanai knocked FC Basel out of the European Cup a year ago.
While FC Zurich have qualified for the European group stage seven times in the last 16 years, European highlights have been a rarity for FC St. Gallen of late. Ten years ago, St. Gallen played in the group stage of the Europa League, but since then the club from eastern Switzerland failed twice on their first appearance against Sarpsborg from Norway in 2018 and AEK Athens in 2020.
Zurich and St. Gallen, as well as Liechtenstein Challenge League club Vaduz, who first play St. Patrick's Athletic away in Ireland, must survive three rounds to reach the group stage of the Conference League.
