| European qualification football heats up on Thursday night at De Grolsch Veste as Dutch side FC Twente host Azerbaijani champions Qarabag FK in the first leg of their UEFA Conference League play-off tie. Both sides are fighting to secure a place in the autumn League Phase. Twente started their European journey in the Europa League qualifying rounds, where they were narrowly eliminated on aggregate by Hungarian side Ferencvaros. Dropping into the Conference League third qualifying round, they produced an emphatic performance against Slovakian side DAC 1904, routing them 6-0 at home and securing a 9-3 aggregate win. Twente bounced back from an opening-day Eredivisie loss to SC Heerenveen by defeating PEC Zwolle 3-1 over the weekend. Gurban Gurbanov’s Qarabag are standard-bearers for European competition in Azerbaijan and drop into the Conference League play-offs looking to maintain their streak of competing in European group stages. Renowned for their structured positional play and high-octane attacking style, Qarabag arrive with plenty of European experience and intent to take a positive result back to Baku for the return leg. The best signing for the hosts is the 20-year-old Norwegian winger Filip Thorvaldsen who arrived from Valerenga for €5.5m, adding direct pace, dribbling skill, and dynamic to Twente's attack. Qarabag sign the Mozambique international left-back Bruno Langa from Spanish side UD Almeria for €1.0m, providing top-tier defensive stability. |
