Dinamo failed to cope with the pressure in Poland, suffering a heavy 3–0 defeat to Jagiellonia in the first leg of the Conference League play-offs. Coach Ilir Daja had work to do in the week following the qualification against Hajduk Split, as he first had to find a replacement for Zabërgja, who had left for Ukraine. Then, he had to solve the problems in the center of defense, as usual, with the improvisation of the Aliji-Meksi duo, which seemed to have proved fatal, as Jagiellonia triumphed with a clean score of 3–0.
Goals for the Poles came from Imaz (12'), Palulu (34') and Wojtuszek (50'), leaving Dinamo with a mountain to climb in the return leg in Tirana. Meanwhile, an electrifying European evening has seen Albanian clubs Shkëndija and Drita move closer to historic qualification for UEFA competitions.
In a fiery atmosphere at the “Fadil Vokrri” stadium in Prishtina, Drita e Gjilani took a big step towards the group stage of the Conference League, defeating Luxembourg’s Differdange 2–1 in the first match of the “play-off” phase. The Gjilan team started the match aggressively, with several clear chances from Albert Dabiqaj and Arb Manaj, but the lead goal came in the 30th minute, when Dabiqaj finished beautifully for 1–0. In the second half, the guests managed to equalize through Andreas Buch in the 65th minute, but Drita reacted immediately. In the 80th minute, Besnik Krasniqi proved accurate from the penalty spot, restoring the lead to the white and blue team.
The match ended in tension, as in extra time, after the intervention of VAR, Boris Mfoumou of Differdange was sent off with a red card for a serious foul. Drita now travels to Luxembourg with a valuable advantage and the big dream of debuting in the group stage of a European competition.
In another surprising result, Shkëndija e Tetovo triumphed in the match played in Skopje against Ludogorets with a big 2–1 victory in the first leg of the Europa League play-off phase. Despite the Bulgarians taking the lead first, the red and blacks led by coach Jeton Beqiri did not give up. Latifi scored a super goal to equalize the scores in the first half, while in the second half, veteran Ibraimi scored the winning goal, turning everything upside down and raising hopes for a historic qualification to the Europa League groups, as the Tetovo team previously secured the Conference League groups.
