Riga FC aims to overcome two-goal deficit against Ararat-Armenia at home

Riga FC faces a must-win situation on Tuesday evening at Skonto Stadium, needing to overturn a two-goal deficit to keep their Champions League group stage hopes alive. In the first leg in Yerevan, Ararat-Armenia secured a 2-0 victory, scoring both goals in the final 30 minutes.

Riga's chances in the first match were severely hampered when goalkeeper Franks Orols received a straight red card in the 72nd minute, leaving his team a man down. Orols was one of two Latvians in Riga's starting lineup in Yerevan, the other being Raivis Jurkovskis. After the red card, Krišjānis Zviedris came on as a substitute.

The Armenian side have not played any competitive matches since, as their domestic league starts only at the end of July. Riga, meanwhile, played a Latvian Cup round of 16 match against LeeVon PPK, winning 3-2. Only centre-back Karls Vasoms from the regular starters who played significant minutes in Yerevan featured in that cup tie.

Riga captain Antonijs Černomordijs expressed confidence in the pre-match press conference: "We all believe and will do everything possible – 0-2 is not 0-4 or 0-5. Even if we concede, we will still believe. In football, everything is decided on the pitch."

The winner over two legs will face either Malta's Floriana or Ireland's Shamrock Rovers in the second qualifying round. Floriana won the first leg 2-0, with the return match in Dublin tonight at 22:00 Latvian time. The loser will drop into the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round, where they will meet Skopje's Vardar or Finland's KuPS (KuPS won the first leg 2-0).

The match will be broadcast live on TV4 and the Sportacentrs.com portal.