Finely poised after a goalless first leg, the Europa League second qualifying round tie between HNK Rijeka and Romanian rookies Corvinul Hunedoara concludes on Thursday.
The hosts now return to Stadion Rujevica, aiming to progress towards a contest with either Sheriff Tiraspol or Elfsborg for a place in the playoffs.
Match preview
© Imago
After a youthful Rijeka squad featured strongly in last season's title race, alongside established giants Dinamo Zagreb and Hajduk Split, much is expected of them in 2024-25.
Head coach Zeljko Sopic saw his side come up just short in the HNL and lose the Croatian Cup final, but they still set a new standard to measure themselves against for the months ahead.
In their first competitive match of the new campaign, the Whites were held to a 0-0 draw in last week's first leg at Stadionul Municipal Sibiu, but with home advantage for Thursday's return, they will consider themselves favourites to go through.
In addition to their end-of-season setbacks last term, Rijeka also missed out in the playoff round of the Europa Conference League 12 months ago, and they have not reached a UEFA group stage since 2020.
On that occasion, they picked up four points from six games against Napoli, Real Sociedad and AZ Alkmaar, and returning to the autumn phase this year will be all the more important, given the new-look competition's promise of eight group fixtures.
The hosts can guarantee at least a spot in the Europa Conference League playoffs by winning this week, but underdogs Corvinul certainly have not given up on progressing to the third qualifying round.
Before holding Rijeka at bay in Romania, the Transylvanian team overcame Hungarian outfit Paksi by a 4-2 aggregate scoreline in their first European tie since 1982.
In May, the second-tier side saw off Otelul Galati in the Romanian Cup final, to lift that trophy for the very first time and secure a place in the Europa League qualifiers.
The Ravens also finished second in the Liga 2 playoffs but were denied promotion due to off-field matters: now intent on defying the odds again, cup-winning coach Florin Maxim has clearly proven to be the right man for the job so far.
Team News
Neither side has been in league action as yet, so both could be relatively unchanged from last week's first leg, which featured over 20 shots without a goal for either team.
Ante Majstorovic made his first appearance for Rijeka since signing from Istra, replacing the injured Stjepan Radeljic at Stadionul Municipal Sibiu, and he may continue to deputise in central defence, alongside captain Niko Galesic.
Corvinul, meanwhile, are expected to name a defensive lineup and wait for their opportunities on the counter-attack, with Sergiu Bus ploughing a lone furrow up front.
Marius Lupu was restricted to a substitute role in Romania, despite netting a hat-trick against Paksi in the second qualifying round, and the 24-year-old winger may be promoted to the starting XI on Thursday evening.
HNK Rijeka possible starting lineup:
Zlomislic; Bogojevic, Galesic, Majstorovic, Cabraja; Hodza, Selahi, Petrovic; Pasalic, Obregon, Jankovic
Corvinul Hunedoara possible starting lineup:
Lefter; Iacob, Lica, Manolache, Neacsa; Hrezdac; Lupu, Bradu, Roger, Pirvulescu; Bus
We say: HNK Rijeka 1-0 Corvinul Hunedoara (HNK Rijeka win 1-0 on aggregate)
Despite being a second-tier team in Romania, Corvinul have already proven themselves a tough nut to crack since returning to European competition after a four-decade break.
Nevertheless, Rijeka's quality should shine through in the second leg, following a rare failure to score on their competitive debut for 2024-25.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Jonathan O'Shea
