Credit: Ali Sahib, Chronicle.lu
On Tuesday 15 July 2025, FC Differdange 03 hosted the second leg of their 2025/26 UEFA Champions League first qualifying round tie, ultimately falling to Kosovo champions FC Drita.
Pedro Silva's team entered home leg at a packed Stade Municipal de la Ville de Differdange, with 1,922 spectators in attendance, needing a win to overturn their 0-1 defeat in the first leg and stay in contention for a place in the next qualifying round.
However, it was the visitors who extended their aggregate lead early on. In the fourth minute, Liridon Balaj pressed high on the left flank, dispossessed a defender and squared the ball into the box, where Arb Manaj controlled it and fired in from a tight angle to make it 0-1.
Seventeen minutes into the match, Manaj scored his second goal. After a cross from the left into the penalty area and a mistake by Differdange goalkeeper Felipe, the Drita striker capitalised on the opportunity and slotted the ball in from close range to give the visitors a 2-0 lead.
The hosts managed to pull one back ten minutes later, when defender Théo Brusco converted a corner delivered by Juan Bedouret, reducing the deficit to 1-2, a scoreline that remained unchanged at half-time.
The opening five minutes of the second half were marked by intense midfield battles, with play mostly concentrated in Differdange’s half. Drita maintained attacking pressure but failed to create any real danger for the Luxembourg champions’ goalkeeper.
The first shot on target after the break came in the 69th minute, when Liridon Balaj received a pass on the left side of the penalty area; however, his weak effort was comfortably collected by Felipe.
During this period, Drita forward Veton Tusha squandered a clear opportunity to make it 3-1 in the 85th minute, finding himself alone against Felipe. Moments later, following a VAR review, referee Kopiievskyi awarded a penalty for a foul on on FC Differdange's Hadji, who had received a heavy elbow from Ronn Broja in the box and had just been stitched up on the pitch. Hadji converted the penalty, sending Faton Maloku the wrong way to level the score at 2-2 in the 90th minute.
In additional time, Differdange pushed forward in search of a third goal, but Drita responded with a decisive counter as a long ball found Tusha in the box. Felipe got a touch on his initial effort, but the ball bounced back to the forward who calmly finished on the second attempt to make it 2-3. Luxembourg's champion lost 2-4 on aggregate and will now continue their European campaign in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
Pedro Silva, head coach of FC Differdange 03, reflected on the team’s performance after the match: "We started poorly. We grew into the game and by the end, we gave everything we had. It leaves a bitter feeling, as we truly could have turned the tie around.”
“It means so much because it’s the first time that a team from Kosovo has reached the second round of Champions League [qualification]. Tonight, we made history for the Kosovo league, so we’re very happy. There was a bit of pressure after it went 2-2, but in my mind I was 100% sure that we would go through to the next round. I was confident we wouldn’t concede a third goal, and that’s exactly what happened,” said Drita captain Rron Broja in an interview with Chronicle.lu.
Zekirija Ramadan's team will face Danish champions FC Copenhagen in the next round.
Starting lineups:
FC Differdange 03: Felipe (GK), Geoffrey Franzoni(c), Kevin D’Anzico, Theo Brusko, Juan Bedouret, Dylan Lempereur, Bruno Reis, Rafael Pereira Pinto, Leandro Borgec, Samir Hadji, Artur Abreu.
FC Drita: Faton Maloku (GK), Raddy Ovouka, Juan Camilo Messa, Egzon Bejtulai, Besnik Krasniqi, Rron Broja (c), Albert Dobikaj, Alamir Ajzeraj, Blerim Krasniqi, Liridon Balaj, Arb Manaj.
