The team will progress to the UEFA Europa League playoff round, where they will play the winner of the Banja Luka-Klasvík match.Continue reading
On Thursday, Hungarian top flight league (NB I) champions Ferencváros (also known as Fradi, FTC) will host Bosnian side FK Borac Banja Luka in the first leg of the fourth and final round of the UEFA Europa League qualifying.
The winner of the match will start in UEFA Europa League, the second-tier competition of European club football, ranking below the UEFA Champions League, while the defeated team will advance to the UEFA Conference League.
This will be the sixth season in a row that Ferencváros will be involved in an annual football club competition.
The team’s run started in the 2019/20 season, since then they have competed once in the UEFA Champions League, three times in the UEFA Europa League and last season in the UEFA Conference League.
Ferencváros are in great form heading into the clash against the Bosnians, having defeated arch-rivals Újpest FC for the 17th time in a row last weekend.
In addition, FTC’s Barnabás Varga, the top scorer of the previous two seasons, who suffered a fractured cheek during the UEFA Euro 2024 group game against the Scots, returned to action after 55 days. The striker has now also been included in head coach Pascal Jansen’s list of players for the upcoming game.
Ferencváros’s Barnabás Varga (R) and Újpest’s Barnabás Bese during the match between Ferencváros and Újpest FC on August 17, 2024 in Budapest, Hungary. Photo: MTI/Vasvári Tamás
The two sides will meet for the first time in their history, with Ferencváros facing Bosnian rivals in the second-tier competition for the third time. The last time was in the summer of 2015, when FK Željezničar Sarajevo eliminated Fradi with a double victory in the second round of the UEFA Europa League qualifying.
The match at Groupama Arena on Thursday at 9 p.m. will be refereed by Scotland’s Nick Walsh and will be broadcast live on M4 Sport.
Via MTI; Featured image via MTI/Hegedüs Róbert