St. Patricks host Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia in Tallaght, in what should be a cracking replay tie for the third qualifying round of the Conference League. The Irish outfit manage to edge the first leg thanks to an 87th minute goal, taking a valuable advantage for this fixture. The win was even more surprising, taking into account that St. Patrick’s had started the game as grand 6 odds outsiders, pulling off an impressive upset. In the last round, they managed to defeat Slovenian side Mura, after a tense penalty shootout. St. Patrick’s are not at their best at their Tallaght stadium however, where they have won just once in their last five. Defence is not at its peak either, with the Irish side conceding in five of their last six home games. They tend to be much more solid in their European games though, where they have kept two clean sheets in three, conceding just once in those games.
Once a regular in the knockouts of the UEFA Champions League back in the 80s, CSKA Sofia will have to contend with Conference League qualifiers for now. After defeating North Macedonian side Petrov in the last round, they were stunned by St. Patrick’s in the first leg, where they failed to make their chances count and were punished at the latter stages of the game. The defeat was also the Bulgarian side’s first after an unbeaten streak of seven games, while they are joint first with Ludogorets in the fourth round of the league, winning three and drawing one of their games. CSKA managed to keep clean sheets in both ties of their last qualifier round, and they will rely on their defence to help them progress to the play offs, having kept five clean sheets in their last eight games. It should also be noted that CSKA played in thé competition’s group stages last year, where they managed to take just one point in six games, performing quite poorly.