With their sights set on the two-legged play-off tie, FC Lugano will play the second leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League on Thursday 13 August in Klaksvík, in the Faroe Islands, at 4.30 pm local time (7.30 pm in Switzerland). The bianconeri, buoyed by their 2–0 win in the first leg at the AIL Arena, are set to face NSÍ Runavík. Fresh from Sunday’s resounding 5–0 victory over FC Zürich – their sixth consecutive win in a brilliant start to the season – Croci-Torti’s side are now setting their sights on Europe, in the far north, where the intense heat and drought have given way to rain, fog and decidedly colder temperatures.
THE OPPONENT
Founded in 1957 and based in Runavík, on the island of Eysturoy, NSÍ won the Faroe Islands league in 2007 and three national cups, in 1986, 2002 and 2017. The yellow-and-black side is managed by the Icelander Sigurður Ragnar Eyjólfsson. At the AIL Arena, the ultra-defensive approach made life a little difficult for Steffen and his team-mates, though they were still able to go into the second leg with a two-goal lead – a cushion that is both reassuring and potentially treacherous. Suffice it to say, in fact, that in the previous round (Q2), NSÍ managed to overturn their 2–0 home defeat against FC Koper with a 3–1 win in Koper, forcing the match into a penalty shoot-out which ultimately went the Northerners’ way (4–3), who are enjoying the best European campaign in their history, which began with the elimination of the Maltese side Ħamrun Spartans (1–1 at home, 2–1 away).
MATTIA CROCI-TORTI: ‘FOCUSED ON THE MATCH’
The climate, which is extremely different from what we left behind south of the Alps, doesn’t seem to be a problem. “It’s not actually that cold,” points out Mattia Croci-Torti, “it’s quite pleasant; we left the heat of our Ticino behind to come here and enjoy a bit of a cool breeze. What strikes you about this place is the scenery. This morning we had a truly special experience exploring the area around our hotel, but now we’re focusing solely on the match. We’re giving it our all to achieve this goal, which is very important to us: the Conference League play-offs.”
We’re starting from a 2–0 lead from the first leg – a reassuring result on the one hand, but with a ‘but’. There’s still a match to play, after all. “There’s a match to play, and there’s a team that came from behind to beat Koper in the last round. There’s a team that plays on artificial turf every day, and by making the most of the pitch’s compact dimensions – it’s quite short – they can cause us even more trouble from set-pieces. We’ll need to be very careful; we controlled the first leg, even though we could have done a bit more. These are matches that last 180 minutes; we must seal the deal by starting off really strongly right from the off.’
Sunday’s 5–0 win over Zurich has generated a bit of healthy and justified euphoria within the squad, but our focus is rightly on the next match. “I told the lads as early as Monday, when we returned to training after Sunday’s win: we’ve got two knockout rounds ahead of us that we need to treat with the utmost caution. These are do-or-die matches that require a high level of concentration, even though we’re the clear favourites. Let’s not get carried away; let’s try to build on the team’s current form, staying focused and well-centred on what we need to do. It’s time to settle these two outstanding matters, and we’ll do our very best to do so.”