Torpedo Kutaisi host Sarajevo at Ramaz Shengelia Stadium in the UEFA Europa Conference League first qualifying round first leg on Thursday (July 13). The two teams are meeting for the first time. The hosts are debuting in the competition, while the visitors are in their second campaign.
Torpedo are sixth with 24 points in the Erovnuli Liga – Georgia’s top flight - which gets back to action for matchday 20 early next month. Kutaisi have been improving their home form after four defeats in six games and will look to maintain that momentum when they welcome Sarajevo.
Sarajevo, meanwhile, took part in the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2021-22 but couldn’t make it out of the first qualifying round. They lost to Moldovan side Milsami Orhei 1-0 on aggregate. It wasn’t their first European campaign, though, as they have competed in the Champions League and Europa League.
Bordo-bijeli ended the 2022–23 Bosnia and Herzegovina Premier League in fourth place, which secured their place in the Europa Conference League qualifiers. They finished in the same spot in the previous season. Sarajevo will count on their impressive away form as they head to Kutaisi for the first leg.
Nika Kacharava and Giorgi Arabidze have been influential in Kutaisi’s promising campaign in the Erovnuli Liga. They boast three and two goals respectively, while goalkeeper Roin Kvaskhvadze has kept three clean sheets, the most in the league.
Meanwhile, Renan Oliveira and Dal Varesanovic were Sarajevo’s leading scorers last season with nine and eight goals respectively. They will be under pressure to do more this term, starting with the European competition.
Kutaisi will look to exploit their home advantage and should take a narrow win.
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