After a successful first round of qualifiers, ŠK Slovan Bratislava will travel to Hungary as they meet with Ferencváros at the Groupama Arena for the first leg of action in the second round of Champions League qualifiers for 2022/23.
The two sides had very contrasting results in the first round, and despite both getting through, it is Ferencvaros who enter this one with much greater confidence in progressing.
They met with Tobol in the first set of fixtures, and after a 0-0 draw away from home, the Hungarian giants smashed them 5-1 in their pursuit at another Champions League return.
Adama Traore was once again the hero and the standout player for Ferencvaros as he scored twice inside the first 20 minutes of the game.
Aissa Laidouni added another for the club, before Tobol got a goal back through Igor Sergeyev. The game eased off slightly towards the end of the game, before substitute Fortune Akpan Bassey netted a brace for Ferencvaros to end the game 5-1 following a 0-0 draw in the first leg.
A similar situation occurred in the first round of qualifiers with Bratislava, as they drew the first leg fixture against Dinamo Batumi 0-0 as well. What's different, however, was the second leg which again finished in a goalless draw within the 90 minutes as nothing seemed to be able to separate either side.
The two-legged affair subsequently went to extra time, and Batumi got off to a great start by taking the lead just before the interval in extra time. However, Tigren Barseghyan scored just five minutes before time and it looked as if penalties were on the cards.
Then, in stunning fashion, Bratislava's main man, Vladimir Weiss, scored three minutes into stoppage time at the end of the 120 minutes of action to send the Slovakian side into this clash with Ferencvaros.
Scenes as such don’t normally happen in first round qualifiers of the Champions League, but that is how closely matched the two sides were in that two-legged showdown, and it now plays well into the favour of Ferencvaros.
On the other hand, given how Bratislava stormed to the Slovak Super Liga title once more by winning 22 games and losing just twice, this game is far from a finished product. The Slovakian champions also scored 71 times and let in just 25 along the way of their 32 fixtures in the league.
Forebet predicts the game to see over 2.5 goals and with a victory for the home side.