Icelandic club Vestri to face RFS in Conference League after heavy defeat
Icelandic Cup winners Vestri suffered a comprehensive 6-0 aggregate loss to Qarabag in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers and will now proceed to the UEFA Conference League, where they will meet Latvian champions RFS.
Vestri from Iceland's second-tier league exited the UEFA Europa League qualification as expected, losing both legs to Azerbaijani giants Qarabag by 0-3. In the second leg, all three goals came from the 5th to the 56th minute, with Swedish striker Zakaria Savo scoring one and providing two assists. French-Moroccan Jaly Mouadib and Brazilian Pedro Bicalho also found the net.
The Icelandic side will now switch to the UEFA Conference League, traveling to Katlakalns next Thursday to face Latvian champions RFS. Qarabag's next opponent in the Europa League will be CSKA Sofia, who came from behind to beat Irish side Derry City 2-1 in the second half of their second leg.
In other matches, Sheriff Tiraspol goalkeeper Emil Timbur made eight saves to help the Moldovan club beat Slovenia's Aluminij 1-0. Dynamo Kyiv goalkeeper Ruslan Neshcheret secured a 0-0 draw and a 4-2 penalty shootout victory over Romania's Universitatea Cluj. Hajduk Split defeated Zilina 3-2 on aggregate (2-0, 1-2), while Ferencváros eliminated Vojvodina 5-1 on aggregate (2-1, 3-0).
The second round will feature ties such as Hammarby vs. Anderlecht, Tromsø vs. Hradec Králové, Twente vs. Ferencváros, Beşiktaş vs. Midtjylland, Hajduk Split vs. Pafos, Sheriff vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv, St. Gallen vs. Benfica, and Dynamo Kyiv vs. PAOK.
