Undefeated leader (five victories, one draw) of the league phase of the Conference League, Racing Club de Strasbourg did not need to go through the “playoffs” stage to secure their ticket for the round of 16 of the competition.
Nevertheless, the Alsatians closely watched some matches, because their next opponent on the continental stage had to go through this intermediate round to earn their spot. As in the previous season, the final phase table of the Conference League is already partly known.
Thus, Strasbourg and the Polish team Rakow Czestochowa, respectively 1st and 2nd in the league phase, have known since the end of the 1st round that they will face the winners of the playoffs involving teams ranked between 15th and 18th place. That is Fiorentina, who had a close call against Jagiellonia Bialystok (victory 5-4 on aggregate after having initially won 3-0 in the first leg), and Rijeka, who defeated Omonia Nicosia (4-1 on aggregate).
Godo and Panichelli to lead Racing
Following the same principle, the 3rd and 4th (AEK Athens and Sparta Prague) will face one of the winners of the playoffs between the 13th, 14th against the 19th and 20th (Celje, who eliminated Drita, and Alkmaar who defeated Noah)… And so on.
In the wake of Martial Godo (three goals in the competition) and their number 9 Joaquín Panichelli, the Strasbourg players have the ambition to go far in this competition. Engaged in three competitions (Ligue 1, Coupe de France, and the Conference League), Racing has already achieved its first goal by finishing on top of the league phase.
An undeniable advantage for the rest of the competition, as this first place will allow the Alsatians to host all the Conference League return matches until the semi-finals… if they reach the final four.
