Ferencvaros will be bidding to claim a first-leg advantage when they welcome Slovan Bratislava in the second qualifying round of the Champions League on Wednesday night.
The home side thrashed Tobol 5-1 in the first qualifying round to advance to this stage, while Bratislava navigated their way past Dinamo Batumi, running out 2-1 winners on aggregate.
Match preview
Ferencvaros drew 0-0 with Tobol in the first leg of their first qualifying round contest on July 6, but they were excellent in the second leg of the tie, running out 5-1 winners to secure their spot in the next round.
Adama Traore and Fortune Bassey both netted braces for the Hungarian outfit, while Aissa Laidouni was also on the scoresheet, as Stanislav Cherchesov's side eased their way into the second qualifying round.
The Green Eagles played in the group stage of the 2020-21 Champions League, finishing bottom of a difficult section which saw them take on Juventus, Barcelona and Dynamo Kiev over six matches.
Ferencvaros were eliminated in the playoff round for last season's European Cup, losing 6-4 on aggregate to Young Boys, but they did play in the Europa League last term, finishing fourth in their section, which included fixtures against Bayer Leverkusen, Celtic and Real Betis.
Cherhesov's side are 33-time Hungarian champions, finishing 11 points clear at the top of the division last season, and they will be bidding to claim a first-leg advantage on Wednesday.
Bratislava, meanwhile, drew 0-0 with Dinamo Batumi in the first leg of their first qualifying round contest on July 6 before running out 2-1 winners in the second leg on July 13.
The match headed for extra-time after the two sides played out a goalless draw in the second leg; Batumi took the lead in the 104th minute of the contest, but Tigran Barseghyan levelled the scores in the 115th minute before Vladimir Weiss netted the winner in the third minute of stoppage time at the end of extra-time.
Bratislava started their domestic league season on Saturday, suffering a 2-1 defeat to Podbrezova, so they will enter this match off the back of a disappointing result.
The Sky Blues, who are the reigning Slovakian champions, played in the group stage of the Europa Conference League last season, finishing third in Group F.
The Slovakian side played in the group stage of the 2019-20 Europa League, meanwhile, but they were knocked out in the second qualifying round of last season's Champions League by Young Boys.
- D
- W
- D
- L
- W
- W
- D
- W
- D
- W
- L
- L
- D
- D
- W
- L
Team News
Ferencvaros have not been in action since the clash with Tobol, with their domestic campaign not due to begin until the end of July, so they should be in good shape for this match.
The home side have not reported any fresh injury concerns, but head coach Cherchesov has a big decision to make when it comes to Bassey, who scored twice off the bench in the second leg of the clash with Tobol.
Bassey could now replace Franck Boli at centre-forward, but there will be another start for Adama Traore, who also found the back of the net twice in the team's last contest.
As for Bratislava, head coach Vladimir Weiss shuffled his pack for the league contest with Podbrezova, but the team's key players will be back in the side here.
Giorgi Chakvetadze, Aleksandar Cavric, Juraj Kucka and Guram Kashia will be among those to return to the side, with the same XI that started the first qualifying round second leg potentially taking to the field.
There is also expected to be a spot in the side for David Holman, who scored off the bench in the team's domestic defeat ahead of this match.
Ferencvaros possible starting lineup:
Dibusz; Wingo, Mmaee, Kovacevic, Civic; Laidouni, Esiti; Nguen, Zachariassen, Traore; Bassey
Slovan Bratislava possible starting lineup:
Chovan; Abena, Kashia, Medvedev, Pauschek; Kankava, Kucka, Chakvetadze, Holman; Weiss, Cavric
We say: Ferencvaros 2-1 Slovan Bratislava
We are expecting this to be a close two-legged affair, with the home match for each side set to be key. Bratislava will fancy their chances of scoring on Wednesday, but we are expecting Ferencvaros to emerge victorious in the first leg of the contest.
body check tags ::
Previews by email
