The incredible success of the team from Liechtenstein: how did the club from the second division of Switzerland make it to the Conference League?

The League of Conferences provides amazing stories for biographical dramas. A year ago, Boude-Glimt smashed Roma in the group stage (6:1). In the new season-2022/23 Vaduz club from Liechtenstein, which plays in the second division of Switzerland. Today we will tell the unusual story of a hardworking team how they managed to break into the third European Cup.

Vaduz

Through thorns to the Conference League

Vaduz started in the second qualifying round. The Reds slammed the Slovenian Koper and smashed the Turkish Konyaspor. The most intriguing exciting match took place with the Viennese Rapid.

Alessandro Magnaratti's wards played with the Austrians in a draw at home (1:1). In the second leg, Tunahan Cicek put the team ahead by scoring a chic goal in the top 1win-login-india.com/casino nine. 10 minutes before the break, Rapid's Kevin Wimmer was sent off (the footballer used to play for Tottenham and Stoke City). Vaduz kept the advantage and advanced to the group stage.

There was some luck in this match. But will fortune help Kazan Rubin in the new season? Here we talked about the return of Leonid Slutsky's team to the Premier League.

Why Vaduz gets into European competition through the Liechtenstein Cup

UEFA includes 55 national associations. Only Liechtenstein does not have its own championship. Only seven teams are registered on the territory of the dwarf state, so the football association cannot hold its own tournament. For this reason, clubs play in Swiss leagues.

Vaduz

In the 2020/21 season, Vaduz played in the Superliga, but usually plays in the second division. If the team becomes the champion of the country, it will not be able to take the place of the Swiss club in European competition. Vaduz is not part of the quota, because it participates in a separate competition within the country.

To qualify for European competition, Vaduz takes part in the Liechtenstein Cup, the winner of which receives a single slot.

Vaduz is a club with rich history (lost PSG 0:7)

Vaduz is the king of the Liechtenstein Cup. Since the 1997/98 season, the Reds have only failed to take the trophy once: in the 2012/13 championship, the team lost to Eschen-Mauren on penalties. In total, the team has 48 wins in the tournament, the closest pursuer has 11.

Vaduz was played by well-known players: goalkeeper Jan Sommer (now skates in Borussia Mönchengladbach) and striker Marko Devic (he retired, but managed to play for Rostov).

Vaduz often fails in qualifying. The last time the team got into the main draw was back in 1996 (Cup Winners' Cup). Then the team passed the Riga University in qualifying and met with the monster PSG on aggregate, lost with a score of 0:7.

Vaduz almost qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2022. And then there was one scandalous incident. The Reds lost to Livingston on the away goal rule (at home 1:1, away controversial 0:0).

Why controversial? Vaduz scored the winning goal from a corner in stoppage time. But the Croatian referee Ivan Novak stopped the game a second before. Let's fast forward 20 years and look at this mess together (14:06):