St. Gallen need a win in the Conference League against Backa Topola on Thursday to stay on course for the knockout rounds. Lugano have more of a margin ahead of matchday 4.
FC St. Gallen kept their hopes of advancing to the round of 16 alive with a must-win in Larne, Northern Ireland. Despite two defeats at the start, everything remains possible. However, the remaining program is tough. After Backa Topola, the Portuguese side from Guimarães and Heidenheim await as the last opponents in the league phase next month.
Of this trio, Backa Topola is the easiest opponent on paper, even though the Serbs proved their quality with a 4:1 win against FC Lugano in the last round. Until this astonishingly clear home win, the team based near the Hungarian border had failed to impress this season. The third-placed team from last season currently only occupy 10th place in the domestic championship, while in the European Cup they had suffered defeats against Maccabi Tel Aviv (0:3 and 1:5), Astana (0:1) and Legia Warsaw (0:3) before their comeback against Lugano.
The opportunity for the first home win in a European Cup league or group stage in over ten years seems ideal. The prerequisite, however, is that the offense gets going better than it did at the weekend in the goalless draw against Yverdon. "We have to play with more determination and also be more efficient," says coach Enrico Massen ahead of the clash against Backa Topola, who have played their way from the depths of Serbian football to the European Cup in the last decade.
Lugano still in a good starting position
FC Lugano, who are only off the top of the Super League table because of their inferior goal difference to Basel, will be looking to make amends for their misstep against Backa Topola three weeks ago at home to Gent in Thun. The Belgians, who have a former Swiss junior international in their ranks in 22-year-old Franck Surdez, have won two of their three games in the Conference League so far, as have the Ticino side.
With another win, Lugano would almost certainly be through to the knockout round and could concentrate on finishing in the top eight and advancing directly to the round of 16. Mattia Croci-Torti's team will play their last two matches of the league phase away against Legia Warsaw and in Thun against the Cypriots from Paphos. These are solvable tasks for Lugano, who showed an impressive reaction to the two defeats against Zurich (4:1) last Saturday immediately before the international break.
SDA
