A place in the Europa Conference League group stage will be at stake when Club Brugge welcome Osasuna to the Jan Breydel Stadion on Thursday for the second leg of their playoff round tie.

The Belgian hosts take a narrow advantage into the return leg after claiming a 2-1 victory in Pamplona last week.

Match preview

Having competed in the Champions League group stage in each of the last five seasons, Club Brugge have had to settle for the Europa Conference League this season.

While it may be regarded as a couple of steps down from their recent battles with Europe's elite, their performance in Spain last week suggests that they are taking this European expedition as seriously as their recent Champions League adventures.

Andreas Skov Olsen opened the scoring in the opening stages of the second half, before Chimy Avila levelled the scoreline in the 78th minute, but Maxim De Cuyper quickly restored his side's lead to clinch a crucial 2-1 victory.

As a result of their success in Pamplona, Club Brugge have now won six consecutive games in all competitions, scoring 25 goals in that period.

The hosts, who have not played since last week's first leg, will be confident of claiming another victory after beating Aarhus 3-0 and KA 5-1 in their previous two home games in Europa Conference League qualifying.

After ending their 16-year wait for European football, Osasuna's return to UEFA competition did not go according to plan, as they failed to make full use of home advantage in the first leg.

Despite resting several players for Sunday's trip to the Mestalla, Osasuna bounced back from their European defeat to claim a dramatic 2-1 over Valencia.

Los Rojillos looked to be heading towards a draw after Valencia's Hugo Duro cancelled out Aimar Oroz's first-half penalty, however, substitute Nacho Vidal proved to be Osasuna's hero, netting a 95th-minute winner to snatch all three points.

Having won both of their opening two away league games, Osasuna will look to draw inspiration from those results when they head to Belgium this week.

If Osasuna can overturn the one-goal deficit, they will secure their place in the group stage of a UEFA competition for the second time in their history.

Team News

Club Brugge are still expected to be without the services of Casper Nielsen, Chemsdine Talbi, Bjorn Meijer, Ferran Jutgla and Kamal Sowah.

After producing an impressive performance in Pamplona, Club Brugge could go with an unchanged lineup for Thursday's return leg.

Denmark international Skov Olsen will be key to the home side's attacking efforts after scoring six goals in his last four appearances.

As for the visitors, Darko Brasanac is their only known absentee, as he continues to recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

After rotating his squad for Sunday's league victory, Jagoba Arrasate is expected to make a number of changes, with the likes of Johan Mojica, Jon Moncayola, Lucas Torro and Moi Gomez set to return to the starting lineup.

Avila missed the win over Valencia through suspension, but he is expected to feature in the Osasuna forward line for Thursday's encounter.

Club Brugge possible starting lineup:
Mignolet; Buchanan, Mechele, Spileers, De Cuyper; Onyedika, Vanaken, Vetlesen; Skov Olsen, Zinchernagel, Thiago

Osasuna possible starting lineup:
Fernandez; Pena, Catena, D. Garcia, Mojica; Moncayola, Torro, Oroz; Avila, Budimir, Gomez

We say: Club Brugge 2-1 Osasuna

After working hard to return home with a narrow lead, we think that an in-form Club Brugge side will utilise their recent European experience to beat Osasuna and secure their place in the Europa Conference League group stage.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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