Slavia Praha vs USG

Entering the battle for a precious Champions League place, Slavia Prague and Union SG meet for the first leg of their third qualifying round tie on Wednesday. Both finished second in their domestic league last season, and they are now just two steps away from the new-look group stage.

Jindrich Trpisovsky's team has been back in competitive action since late last month, when they opened their league campaign with a disappointing 0-0 draw at Slovacko. Slavia Prague's consolation prize after losing to city rivals Sparta Prague in the Czech championship for the second consecutive season was a spot in this year's Champions League qualifiers, and victory in their opening tie would take them straight into the playoffs.

The Cervenobili now make their European debut this season at Fortuna Arena, where in four Europa League games last term they posted three wins and one loss, most notably beating Roma 2-0 in November.

Slavia has since recovered from their early-season defeat by Dynamo Ceske Budejovice and Slovan Liberec to their familiar spot behind Sparta in the standings. They have yet to concede a goal in their first three matches.

Their 6-0 victory over Sheriff Tiraspol was their greatest in UEFA play outside of qualifying, and they became the first Czech team to top their group. As a result, they finished first in Group G with 15 points.

Slavia's dream of competing in their first European final was ultimately dashed as they lost 7-3 on aggregate to AC Milan in the round of 16. However, their primary goal today is to eat at Europe's finest table.

Union Saint-Gilloise qualified for the playoffs after winning the Belgian regular season for the second time in three years. However, they again placed second in the league standings, this time behind Club Brugge.

Les Unionistes, who had just been in the second division as recently as 2021 before astonishingly emerging second in their top-flight comeback campaign the following year, were just unable to win the championship for a third consecutive year.

However, they did manage to bring an end to their nearly ninety-year drought for a major trophy when they won the Belgian Cup. Since then, new manager Sebastien Pocognoli has had great success, leading his team to victory in the Super Cup against Club Brugge, 2-1 at Jan Breydel Stadium.

Following a goalless draw on the first day of play against newly promoted Dender, Union lost to them by a score of 3-1 against Beerschot on Friday, their first Pro League victory of 2024–25.

The Brussels team, who had upset the Premier League team 2-1 the previous autumn, finished third in a Europa League group that also included Toulouse, Liverpool, and LASK. They advanced past Eintracht Frankfurt in the Conference League playoffs before falling to Fenerbahce in the round of sixteen.

They played five games on the road, with two victories, one tie, and two losses. Now, they are headed to Prague in hopes of a strong showing going into the second leg next week.