The opponent
FC Lugano is a club from the southern canton of Ticino, the only Swiss region where Italian is the official language. Lugano is the region's largest city with 65,000 inhabitants in the southern side of the Alps. This idyllic town on Lake Lugano hosted the very first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest.
FC Lugano was founded in 1908. It celebrated 3 Swiss national titles (last time 1949) and also got to raise the cup in the air 4 times (last time 2022). The club's biggest stunt in Europe came in 1995 when it was able to eliminate Italian Inter Milan in the 1st round of the UEFA Cup. Just after the turn of the millennium, FC Lugano fared less well: the club was declared bankrupt. Under the name AC Lugano, the club was re-established in 2003, 5 years later the club resumed its former name. Since 2015, the club has again been playing at the highest level in its own country. In the Super League, the club finished in the top five each of the past five years.
Last season, the club finished third in the final standings with 57 points. That is 1 point less than vice-champion Servette FC and 17 points less than champion BSC Young Boys. The club from Bern was also Lugano's opponent in the cup final. Young Boys prevailed 3-2 to win the double in Switzerland.
Top shooter of the club last season was Slovenian striker Žan Celar with 16 goals. Assist king was Swiss flank attacker Renato Steffen with 9 assists.
The match against Club Brugge will not be played at the home Stadio di Cornaredo. This stadium cannot be played in due to renovation works. So FC Lugano will receive Blauw-Zwart in Zurich's Letzigrund stadium 200 km north.
Club Brugge will play European in the city of Zurich for the 3rd time on Thursday. Club previously played in Switzerland's biggest city in Letzigrund in 1970 against FC Zurich and in Hardturm against St Gallen in 2000 (In 2014 against Zurich club Grasshoppers, the match took place in Sankt Gallen). The Letzigrund stadium underwent major renovation works between 2005 and 2007 on the occasion of the UEFA Euro 2008. Three matches were then played in the group stage, including the top match France-Italy. Letzigrund seats 25,000 spectators and is home to both FC Zurich and Grasshopper-Club.
FC Lugano play 2 matches in a row in Letzigrund. Last weekend it was the visiting club there, Thursday it is the home team. Against Grasshopper-Club, it went down 2-1 on Sunday. The home side had taken the lead after 71 minutes. 7 minutes before time, Lugano equalised through defender Albian Hajdari. But in the added time, the club still cashed in the 2-1.
Before the international break, Lugano suffered a home defeat against Servette, which has now dropped it to 6th place with 0 out of 6 with 15 out of 30. Lugano does have a catch-up match due against FC Basel, which was originally scheduled between the 2 Europa League play-off matches against Union St.-Gillis.
Slovenian striker Žan Celar and Kosovar/Swiss striker Shkelqim Vladi are currently the club's top shooters in the Super League with 3 goals. Striker Renato Steffen is the assist king with 4 assists.
Coach of FC Lugano is 41-year-old Swiss Mattia Croci-Torti. He has been with the club for 5 years. First as assistant coach and since September 2021 as head coach. In his football career, when he played as right-back, he has already played 5 seasons for the southern Swiss club. He guided the club to a fourth and third place in the final standings and to 2 cup finals in a row, including the one won in 2022 (vs Sankt Gallen).
FC Lugano started their European campaign in the UEL Play-Offs in which Union were thus too strong. They entered the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage via the safety net.
After 2 match days, FC Lugano and Club Brugge are together in the lead with 4 out of 6. The eventual winner of this duel could make a very good case for European wintering. Only the top 2 of the group will still be active after New Year, with the group winner also getting to go straight to the 1/8th final.
Later on Thursday evening at 9pm, the game between Bodø/Glimt and Beşiktaş will take place in Group D. They remained behind 1 in 6 after 2 matchdays and need a win to stay in the race for the top 2.
Referee
Romanian ref Ovidiu Haţegan was appointed ref for this game. He is assisted by his compatriots: linesmen Mihai Marica and Sebastian Gheorghe and fourth official Sebastian Colţescu. The VAR is Italian Marco Guida, assisted by Francesco Meraviglia.
Haţegan is an experienced UEFA elite ref. He has been whistling matches at the highest Romanian level since 2007 and has been an international referee for 15 years. Haţegan was a doctor and also taught at university in his hometown in western Romania's Arad. He already crossed paths with Club Brugge in 2012. In the 3rd UCL preliminary round, Club then drew 0-0 on a visit to FC København (Den).
