The first qualifying round was played in the form of mini-tournaments, with the 19 sides split into five groups – four having four sides, the other just three.
In the four-team mini-tournaments, they consisted of two semi-finals, a third place playoff, and a final. The three-team mini-tournament had one semi-final and a final. One team hosted the matches for their group.
Saturday’s most anticipated match saw Polish champions Czarni Sosnowiec defeat Athlone Town of Ireland 3-1. The hosts, who defeated Lusso in their semi-final, took the lead midway through the first half via Patrycja Sarapata. They added a second shortly after the break and a third before the hour mark.
Athlone managed to get on the board with nine minutes left, but could not mount a comeback. It leaves the Irish team eliminated at the first hurdle. Having beaten ZFK Skopje on Wednesday – Shauna Brennan scored the first goal in the UWCL this season – the Irish club were looking to win their mini-tournament for the second year running. They reached the UEFA Women’s Europa Cup last season, losing to Glasgow City.
Lusso won the third place match in the group, beating ZFK Skopje 2-0.
Elsewhere, Slovakia’s Spartak Myjava prevailed 6-1 over Mgarr United, scoring the biggest win of the day. Six different players found the back of the net for Myjava, who scored thrice in either half to advance.
Myjava, winners of the last five Slovak titles, are the only team to have advanced from the first qualifying round in both years of this current format.
This match was from the sole three-team mini-tournament, where Mgarr had beaten Flora Tallinn in their semi-final three days prior.
Riga break Wrexham hearts
The other game that caught fans’ attention in Saturday’s finals came in Wales, where Wrexham fell 4-1 to Riga FC. Participating in the UWCL for the first time, The Red Dragons led eight minutes in from Lili Jones.
Unfortunately for them, the wheels came off the cart in the second half, where Riga staged an impressive comeback. Two goals in four minutes put the Latvian club in front, with a third added shortly after the hour mark and a fourth later on.
Riga, playing in the qualifying round for the second summer in a row, lost in the final last year. They were also the only side not hosting their mini-tournament to advance.
Glentoran came out on top in the third-place match, getting past Pyunik 4-2. The Northern Irish team had lost to Riga in the semi-finals, while Pyunik fell to Wrexham.
PAOK won their mini-tournament after beating Hapoel Jerusalem in their semi-final and Neftci in the final. Hosting their group’s tournament, the Greek champions scored three times in both games, winning the final 3-0.
Neftci had edged Buducnost in their semi on penalties, while the Montenegrin outfit lost 1-0 to Jerusalem in the third place match.
The other first qualifying winners are Mitrovica of Kosovo, who came out on top 2-0 over Ludogorets in the final. Goals from Aurora Mulliqi and Blerta Shala saw the home side advance from a qualifying round for the first time since 2019/20.
Mitrovica had defated Zimbru Chisinau in their semi-final, while Ludogorets got the better of KI Klaksvik. The Moldovan club won the third place match 4-1 over their Faroese opponents.
The second qualifying round, also staged in the form of mini-tournaments, will occur on 4-5 August (semi-finals), and 7-8 August (finals and third place playoffs). There will be a total of 44 teams involved, 28 in the champions path (including all five first qualifying round winners), and 16 in the league path, Eleven mini-tournaments will be staged, all including four teams.
The 11 winning sides will progress to the final round of qualifying, while the losing finalists and third place finishers will enter the Women’s Europa Cup. As for the sides to lose both games, they will be out of Europe.
Follow the UEFA Women’s Champions League qualifying round action on Flashscore.
