Lugano vs Celje

On Thursday Lugano plans to erase their current one-goal deficit as they welcome Celje to play the second round at Stockhorn Arena for their Conference League round of 16 matchup.

The first-leg victory of 1-0 by Celje Pivovarna demands a favorable outcome at home for Lugano to advance as they have been unsuccessful in past European knockout ties.

Despite creating 11 box-area attempts and almost two expected goals in the opening game Lugano did not manage to score.

The Swiss side maintains fourth position in their national division with 42 points and secured automatic round of 16 placement as their sixth-place finish in the Conference League gave them 13 points.

The Pride of Ticino achieved a streak of three unlost home games in the Conference League while scoring multiple times in each match but they managed one clean sheet in their past five competitions.

Manager Mattia Croci-Torti expresses serious worries since FC Lugano has failed to win any of their previous five games and remain scoreless throughout that streak.

Despite a home loss against FC Zurich on March 2 Lugano managed to achieve six victories in their recent seven Stockhorn Arena matches in all tournaments.

Last Thursday Celje pushed very few opportunities toward their goal and only managed to produce their major scoring opening while they missed completely on their second-half shot attempts.

Perhaps the visitors' lackluster attacking performance against Lugano could be viewed as an isolated incident, given that they had scored seven goals in their last three Conference League games.

With 36 points, the team led by manager Albert Riera is fifth in the Slovenian first division. They also ended 21st in the Conference League standings and overcame APOEL Nicosia 4-2 in a playoff match to go to the round of 16.

The Counts have only lost one of their previous eight games, winning four and being held to a draw in three, making them hard to beat in recent weeks.

Riera's squad has not performed as well away from home, as seen by the fact that they have drawn three of their last six away games, lost two, and won one.