Gżira United face Serbian opposition in the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round as they host FK Radnicki Nis at the Centenary Stadium today (kick-off: 19.00).
This will be the second time these two teams clash in European competition after facing each other back in 2018 in the UEFA Europa League qualifiers, the Serbian outfit progressing after a 5-0 aggregate win. However, both sides believe it will be a different story this time around.
“We played Radnicki four years ago – It was a totally different experience,” Gżira coach Darren Abdilla said, addressing a pre-match press conference.
“We were new to European competition and now things have changed. I moved to another club and came back and there have been changes also in Radnicki.
“We gained a lot of experience and now we know what to expect so I think we’ve learned our lesson, especially when we travel to Serbia. Hopefully, it will be a different experience.”
While the Serbian side have already started their season – a loss to Red Star Belgrade and a draw to Partizan Belgrade – Gżira’s only official commitments this summer have been the two legs of the Conference League first qualifying round against Atletic Escaldes.
“I think it’s difficult that they already played two high profile games against two rivals at a high tempo, which unfortunately we haven’t played yet. So, I think it’s an advantage for them,” Abdilla told the Times of Malta.
“The good thing about them playing two games is that we had the opportunity to analyse them in both games and we could see their strengths and their weaknesses which were evident.
“The fact that we played 120 minutes away from home (against Escaldes) was not ideal but we’re happy with our staff, they did a good job in recovering the players. I think the players are in top condition so I don’t think it will make any difference that last week we’ve played 120 minutes.”