Conference League: Atalanta Beat Pafos, a Future Opponent of Latvia's Riga
In the first round of the UEFA Conference League league phase, Italy's Atalanta beat Cyprus's Pafos 3-1. Both clubs are opponents of Latvian champions Riga FC in the competition.
In a football match in the first round of the UEFA Conference League, a European club competition, Atalanta beat Pafos of Cyprus 3-1 (3-0) on Thursday in Bergamo, Italy. Both clubs are opponents of Latvian champions Riga in the tournament.
Eljif Elmas scored in the first minute, Giacomo Raspadori added a penalty in the 18th, and Gianluca Scamacca made it 3-0 in the 44th. Gabriel Teixeira pulled one back for Pafos in the 88th minute.
Other Riga opponents in action
Lithuania's Kaunas Zalgiris lost 4-0 (2-0) away to Brighton & Hove Albion of the English Premier League. Georginio Rutter scored twice (41st and 53rd minutes), with Jack Hinshelwood and Matt O'Riley adding one each.
Jablonec of the Czech Republic lost 2-3 (1-1) away to Germany's Freiburg. Vincenzo Grifo put the hosts ahead, Antonin Rusek equalised, and defender Dusan Pavlovic then put the ball into his own net. Maximilian Eggestein also scored, while Garang Kuol got Jablonec's second goal in stoppage time.
Borac Banja Luka of Bosnia and Herzegovina lost 1-2 (0-1) away to Panathinaikos of Athens. Cyril Dessers scored from a penalty and Kings Kangwa also scored, while Milos Jojic got Borac's only goal in the 80th minute.
What lies ahead for Riga
In the remaining league-phase games, Riga play away at Pafos on 22 October, host Jablonec in Riga on 5 November, visit Kaunas Zalgiris in Lithuania on 26 November, host Atalanta on 10 December, and finish on 17 December away to Borac in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After six rounds, the top eight teams advance to the round of 16, those placed 9th to 24th enter the first knockout round, and teams in 25th to 36th place are out of European competition for the season. This is the third time the Conference League has used this format.
Riga are the third Latvian team to reach the group stages of UEFA club competitions. Ventspils played in the Europa League group stage in 2009/2010, and RFS took part in the Conference League group stage in 2022/2023, reaching the Europa League group stage two seasons later. The Conference League final will be held on 2 June in Istanbul.
