Three European club tournaments kicked off the 2024/25 season with several intriguing and sensational matches in the first qualifying round.
Let's take a look at the most thrilling games in the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League.
Champions League, Round 1
UE Santa Coloma (Andorra)
The club from Andorra, "Unió Esportiva Santa Coloma" (UE Santa Coloma), won the Andorran championship for the first time in its history and made its debut in the Champions League. In the first qualifying round, Santa Coloma defeated Ballkani from Kosovo in a penalty shootout. In the first match, the Kosovars won 2-1 away, but in the return leg, the Andorran team sensationally won 1-0 in regular time, scoring a goal in the 92nd minute. This took the game into overtime, where the teams exchanged goals, and in the penalty shootout, the Andorran club emerged victorious.
Petrocub (Moldova)
Another sensation occurred in the Champions League. The Moldovan club "Petrocub" from the small town of Hîncești managed to defeat the champion of Kazakhstan, "Ordabasy," and advance to the second qualifying round of the CL. Participation in the Champions League itself is an achievement for this club, as they became champions of Moldova for the first time, surpassing the local hegemon, "Sheriff." Petrocub has a very small budget, and before the start of the European competitions, they lost their main sponsor and couldn't pay the promised bonuses to their players. As a result, many of the team's foreign players refused to play against Ordabasy. Consequently, the Moldovan club played with their youth players, a few more experienced Moldovans, and only one foreign player - Cameroonian Donalio Douanla. The team played with only 17 players in the first match without the possibility of rotation, and in the second game, two more foreign players returned and helped secure the victory.
In the end, after a draw in the first match, Petrocub won the second match 1-0 and advanced. They now have at least a playoff spot in the Conference League and about 1.5 million euros in prize money, which will significantly help the club.
Overall, all three Moldovan teams performed successfully in the first round and advanced. "Sheriff" won against the Azerbaijani "Zira" in the Europa League on penalties, and "Milsami" defeated the Belarusian "Torpedo BelAZ."
Lincoln (Gibraltar)
Progressing to the next round of the Champions League is not rare for clubs from Gibraltar, but it is always surprising. The "Lincoln" club has advanced to the second round several times and even played in the group stage of the Conference League in the 2021/22 season. This time, Lincoln played against the champion of Malta, "Hamrun." In the return match, after a 1-0 victory, Lincoln played with ten men from the 5th minute and managed to maintain the required 0-1 score. The game went to a penalty shootout, where the Gibraltarian team secured victory. They will now face Qarabag.
Europa League, Round 1
Corvinul (Romania)
Moving on to the Europa League, where one notable sensation occurred. "Corvinul" from Hunedoara is a club from Romania's second league. Last season, they finished second in the second league and did not get promoted because the club is state-owned, and only private clubs can play in Romania's top league. However, Corvinul sensationally won the Romanian Cup for the first time in the club's history and played in the Europa League for the first time. In the first qualifying round of the Europa League, Corvinul defeated a strong Hungarian team, "Paksi," which fought for the championship with "Ferencváros" last season.
In the first match, Corvinul won 4-0, and in the second game, they lost 0-2, advancing with an aggregate score of 4-2. In the next round, Corvinul will play against the Croatian club "Rijeka," and in case of defeat, they will qualify for the Conference League playoffs. This modest club has a good chance of playing in the group stage of one of the tournaments. The team mostly consists of Romanian players, but a few Nigerian players, one Brazilian, and one Dutch player were signed before this season.
Two second-division clubs, Wisła Kraków from Poland and Corvinul from Romania, managed to win a European match on the same day for the first time this century.
Wisła Kraków also advanced to the Europa League through their victory in the Polish Cup (defeating Pogoń in the final), while they only finished 10th in the second Polish league. Of course, Wisła's victory against Llapi (Kosovo) may not seem particularly significant, but the fact itself is quite interesting.
Conference League, Round 1
There were many interesting results in the Conference League, highlighting the most remarkable ones.
La Fiorita (San Marino)
The club from San Marino somehow managed to defeat the Belarusian "Isloch." San Marino ranks last, 55th, in the UEFA coefficients table. Teams from this country rarely score points and even more rarely score in European competitions. However, they advanced to the next round and defeated a club from a relatively decent league.
In the first match, Isloch won 1-0, but in the return leg, the Belarusian team decided to hold onto their advantage. However, Italian defender La Fiorita scored a goal in the 87th minute, sending the game into overtime, and then into a penalty shootout, where the players from the small village of 900 people emerged victorious.
After this victory, the official account of the San Marino Football Federation wrote: "We are making history, football in the country is revived!" In the next round, La Fiorita will face a very strong opponent — Turkish "Başakşehir."
Inter Escaldes (Andorra)
Another historical achievement for Andorran football. For the first time, a club from this country scored three goals in a single European competition match. Andorran "Inter" defeated the Bosnian team "Velež" 5-1 in the return match and advanced with an aggregate score of 6-2 to the second round, where they will play against Greek AEK.
Overall Results
After the first qualifying round of the European competitions, clubs from Armenia and Latvia earned the most points in the UEFA coefficients table — 1.125 each. They are followed by Moldova, Ireland, Iceland, Lithuania, Wales, and Montenegro with 1.000 points each.
From Armenia, three teams participated in the first round, and all of them managed to score points. "Noah" and "Urartu" won both matches in the Conference League, while "Pyunik" lost to Minsk "Dinamo" in the CL aggregate, but a draw in the first game also brought points. Now "Pyunik" will play in the Conference League, along with "Noah" and "Urartu," and they will be joined by the Armenian Cup winner "Ararat-Armenia," who starts from the second round.
After the first qualifying round, two clubs from several countries were eliminated from the European competitions: North Macedonia, Albania, Wales, and Northern Ireland. North Macedonia and Liechtenstein are the only countries left with one club, but Liechtenstein started with one club (Vaduz), while Macedonia started with three.
