Rakow take on the visitors Astana in the first leg of quarterfinals of UEFA Conference League qualification. The match will be played on Thursday, July 21th at Miejski Stadion Piłkarski Raków (Częstochowa).
Rakow have existed for more than 100 years, and had some success before. But they reached their peak in recent years. In 2021, the Red-Blues, who previously did not have a single trophy in their assets, won the Cup and the Super Cup and they became the vice-champion of Poland. Rakow also managed to repeat it in the following draw. In Extraclass 2021/2022, they collected 69 points - only Lech managed to take more. Exactly Lech was beaten in a dispute for the Super Cup on July 9th. This is despite the fact that the Poles made a relatively successful debut in European competition a year ago. Then in the League of Conferences it was possible to pass not only Suduva, but also, sensationally, Rubin. Then the Poles minimally defeated Gent in Częstochowa. But in Belgium there was a decisive rout by the hosts.
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Astana remain the main symbol of Kazakh football. They even made their debut in the main round of the Champions League in 2015. After that, four times in a row, the “yellow-blue” got to the group stage, but already in the Europa League. In 2020, they lost the leading position in the domestic arena - they fell from 1st place to 3rd. Yes, then everything ended ahead of schedule, after 20 rounds. But after all, in the last draw, the favorite was limited to only “silver”. And yes, it is still a tough fight. And it is not clear who will be No. 1 in Kazakhstan, there is a whole group of more or less equal contenders. At the same time, the results in the international arena worsened. In 2020, Astana was immediately knocked out of the Champions League by Dynamo Brest, and Buduchnost was knocked out of the Europa League. Last summer, the Kazakhs made their debut in the Conference League, with difficulty passing Aris (2-0 at home, 1-2 away). But then KuPS knocked them out, and won in Nur-Sultan (1-1, 3-4).
Before this duel, the Poles and Kazakhs did not play a single head-to-head. Let's not forget that Rakow is only the 2nd time starting on the international arena. Bookmakers do not believe in Astana, at least on the road.
Prediction for the match: Rakow to win.
