Ħamrun Spartans arrived in the Latvian capital of Riga on Tuesday with one target in their mind – securing a historic promotion to the League Phase of the UEFA Conference League at the expense of FC RFS.
The Malta champions are on the brink of securing a first for our football community as they can become the first Maltese team to qualify for the main stage of a UEFA competition.
Giacomo Modica’s men arrived in Riga holding a crucial 1-0 advantage that materialised following last week’s hard-fought victory in the opening leg at the National Stadium.
Senegal-born forward Saliou Thioune hit the all-important goal early in the second half to give his team a vital advantage ahead of tomorrow night’s return leg.
The Maltese champions contingent arrived in the Latvian capital on Tuesday afternoon and headed to their hotel, where they started their preparations for arguably their biggest match in the club’s history.
The Spartans players didn’t hold any training sessions yesterday, but attended a series of meetings with their coach Modica to prepare themselves for tomorrow’s challenging encounter.
This is the second time that the Spartans reached the Play-Off Round of the UEFA Conference League.
In the summer of 2022, the Reds, at that time under the charge of Branko Nisevic, also reached this stage when they were up against Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade.
However, their hopes of making history were ended after the opening leg when they suffered a 4-1 defeat in the Serbian capital. In the return leg, the Spartans restored their pride when they battled to a 3-3 draw to bow out of the competition 7-4 on aggregate.
But since then, club president Joseph Portelli was determined to fulfil his dream to lead the team to the League Phase of a UEFA club competition, and to this end, this summer he invested heavily in the squad to ensure they reach the required technical standard to step up their challenge.
The major turning point in the Spartans’ European dream was their historic aggregate victory over Lithuanian side FK Zalgiris in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, which guaranteed the team a place in the Play-Off round of the Conference League.
However, the Spartans face an arduous challenge as they put their aspirations on the line against an FC RFS side who are bidding to reach the League Phase of a UEFA club competition for the third time in the club’s history.
The Riga-based side reached the group stages of the UEFA Conference League for the first time in their club history in 2022.
Last season, RFS took a step further, qualifying for the League Phase of the UEFA Europa League.
Thus, RFS are the only club from the Baltic countries that managed to play in the main stage of a UEFA club competition twice in their club history.
FC RFS is Latvia’s most dynamic and modern football project of recent years.
Founded as an offshoot of a youth development academy, the club rose from obscurity in mid-2010s to become national champions within a decade.
It now stands at the forefront of Latvian football, alongside city rivals Riga FC, albeit with a very different developmental model.
RFS is backed by LNK Industries, a major local construction and logistics firm, which has invested heavily in the club and modern infrastructure (LNK Sparta Parks is one of only a handful of privately-owned stadiums in the region).
The club operates with the discipline and ambition of a Western European model – multilingual, with a professional and active scouting network in Europe and Africa, and boasting a multi-national coaching staff.
The club is built around a long-term development model, favouring low staff and player turnover and gradual, consistent growth.
Since 2019, FC RFS are three-time Virsliga Champions and three-time Latvian Cup winners, and also hold one Super Cup and one Livonian Cup.
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