We're back to discuss last Thursday's conclusion to the Europa and Conference League final qualifying round (as well as a little Champions League)!

It was a week of firsts, including Hamrun Spartans becoming the first Maltese club to qualify for a European group stage. Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano also survived to earn their inaugural shot at Thursday night football.

The other Conference League big boys survived by the skin of their teeth – both Mainz and Strabourg got huge bounce-back wins after disappointing 1st leg performances, and Fiorentina overcame a dreadful 78 minutes to eventually see off Polissya.

Elsewhere, Poland, Greece, and Cyprus continued their excellent campaigns, while the Turks and Scots had a nightmarish week, including embarrassing Champions League defeats for both Celtic and Rangers.

Cheers Giacomo Modica!

The Playoff Qualifying Round has kicked off in the Europa & Conference Leagues, and it's all to play for!

The headline in the Conference League was the big boys struggling, with Scandanavian sides taking full advantage. Palace managed just a 1-0 home win vs Fredrikstad amidst a frustrating week off the pitch, Strasbourg was held scoreless in France by Brøndby, & Mainz suffered a 2-1 away defeat at the hands of Rosenborg.

Elsewhere, both Irish sides got huge victories, including a shock win at Santa Clara for Conference League veterans Shamrock. Plus Virtus stayed alive, maintaining just a single goal deficit heading back to San Marino, where they hope to be the first club from their nation to qualify for a European group stage.

Meanwhile in the Europa League, Utrecht continues their impressive qualifying run, Brann-AEK Larnaca and Panathinaikos-Samsunspor set themselves up for terrific 2nd legs, and Red Imps' and KuPS' magical qualifying runs come to an end – but fear not! We'll see them both in the Conference League league phase.

All that plus more praise for the Cypriot, Norwegian, Polish, and the Dutch leagues, and a quick check in on Champions League qualifying!

Cheers Per-Mathias Høgmo!

We're officially back for the 2025-26 Europa & Conference League campaigns, and as always, we're kicking things off with the 3rd qualifying rounds.

The 1st legs were full of action, and we discuss some major upsets from old friends (Celje, Víkingur Reykjavík, AEK Larnaca), and new (Hibs, Shelbourne).

Then we explore Cyrpus' remarkable European successes of late, why the Irish league is on the rise, if this is a breakout season for Scottish clubs, and speculate whether Malta is the next country to pop their cherry and qualify a team for European group stages for the very first time.

We're also introduced to some clubs previously unfamiliar to us, including FC Polissya Zhytomyr, whose name we hopefully did not butchered to unreasonable degree.

It feels good to be back – come hang!

Cheers Joey O'Brien!