Georgia will lead Armenia into their UEFA Nations League League B playoff showdown at Boris Paichadze Stadium for the second installment on Sunday.
This upcoming matchup begins with Georgia leading by three goals as the hosts thus a stunning recovery tournament by Armenia will be needed to secure promotion.
Willy Sagnol's Georgia participated in the relegation playoff after a string of unsuccessful matches started in September until they ended their campaign with four consecutive games without a win.
Ukraine seized the opportunity when the Czech Republic defeated Georgia 2-1 which meant the hosts fell to third position in League B Group 1.
The team of Sagnol won the first tie of the playoff competition as they secured a 3-0 victory while Giorgi Kochorashvili delivered the first goal before Georges Mikautadze added two more.
The 3-0 victory brought Georgia their first defensive shutout in six months since their loss to Albania half a year earlier which gives both team members and their boss confidence for succeeding in the next match.
Georgia offers their supporters additional security since they defeated opponents in only one of their home fixtures since 2023 - and just two losses occurred in almost four years.
Armenia secured their chance for promotion by finishing second in League C Group 4 after their win in the final fixture against Latvia by a score of 2-1 which put them ahead of Faroe Islands.
Although they ended nine points behind group leaders North Macedonia, it is noteworthy that Havakakan's victory was their first in five games and just their second competitive victory since 2023.
Even if the head coach had a rough start in the first leg earlier this week, supporters will be hoping for a reversal in outcomes with new manager John van 't Schip in charge.
Even though the visitors are behind by three goals, they may have some optimism because they have avoided losing their last two away games coming up this weekend and have collected more than half of their seven points on the road in League C.
