Trabzonspor vs Ruzomberok

Papara Park is the venue as Trabzonspor and Ruzomberok lock horns in the return leg of their Europa League qualifying tie.

Cihan Canak’s 91st-minute goal could prove vital to Trabzonspor’s bid to reach the next qualifying stage as it sealed the Turks’ 2-0 win in Slovakia last week, setting them up nicely for the rematch. Trabzon failed to qualify for European football in 2023/24, but they are close to returning to the Europa League group phase for the first time since 2022/23. Abdullah Avci’s side closed last season on a high, winning four consecutive home outings across all competitions. They’ll look to translate that form into the new campaign and potentially tip the balance scale in their overall H2H record against Slovakian opposition in their favor (W1, L1). Having scored at least twice in all four abovementioned home wins, the Black Sea Storm could increase the aggregate scoreline.

On the other hand, Ruzomberok wasted a catalog of chances in the first leg, failing to score despite attempting 16 shots, including eight on target. Those misses could return to haunt them this week as they bid to defy an underwhelming three-game winless run (D1, L2) and turn this tie on its head. However, they must score at least twice to take this two-legged showdown to extra time, a feat they couldn’t achieve in any of their last three outings. On top of that, Ondrej Smetana’s men have drawn a blank on four of their five most recent road trips in all competitions (D2, L3), casting further doubt on their hopes of staging an upset in Turkey.