Swift Hesperange are TNS UEFA Europa Conference League opponents following their elimination from the Champions League.
Both sides have dropped into the third tier competition following their UCL exits. TNS suffered a 5-1 defeat to Swedish champions BK Hacken, whilst it was a narrow defeat for Hesperange against Slovan Bratislava.
To get more information on TNS’ opponent we spoke to Bence Horvath, who runs the Football in Luxembourg account on Twitter. He discussed various topics such as their key men to watch out for, predicted line-up, and their view of Welsh football and TNS. Interestingly, their manager Carlos Fangueiro had a brief spell in England – featuring for Millwall and Walsall.
In Luxembourg, What is the view of Welsh football, and of TNS perhaps? Is their tie more winnable than Slovan Bratislava?
Welsh league football here is regarded as roughly the same quality (or slightly below) as Luxembourgish. Most teams are semi-professional and the chances of reaching European group stages are usually low in both countries.
Hesper did well enough against Slovan to be considering this tie as a winnable one, for sure. I’d call Hesper the favourites after seeing everything that I will mention about them later! (Although it has to be said, TNS can barely be compared to the average Welsh standard given their long-standing dominance on top, which makes it tricky to make a verdict)
Last year was the first time Hesperange won the league and it’s their UCL debut. How did they win their league and what’s the story behind their success?
Hesperange were bought in 2020 by Luxembourgish-Italian businessman Flavio Becca, who had built Dudelange up to their UEL success in the 2010s. Promotion to the first division was followed by a podium finish right away, and only two years on, they are now champions.
They have outspent every team in the country on wages, planning to build a professional team and luring players away both from abroad and from other elite teams in Lux. Meanwhile, they’re in a lawsuit with UEFA, protesting the same points the Super League’s founders touched (prohibiting free competition across national borders). They say Luxembourgish football’s amateur atmosphere are setting them back in their plans to improve.
What kind of transfer business have Heserpange done, and has Rayan Philippe been replaced?
Philippe hasn’t out-and-out been replaced, but maybe he doesn’t need to be. New manager Carlos Fangueiro arrived from main rivals F91 Dudelange, and he brought 3 of his key players with himself (including Sinani above). Besides that, Hesper signed talents from professional teams (L. Akhalaia from Torino, P. Ayongo from Central Coast in Australia, Luca Ferrara from Anderlecht), so their plans are clearly big. They’ve also continued getting the biggest talents the nation is producing, in the background.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat kind of style of play do Swift Hesperange favour?
Swift played on the front foot against Slovan in Fangueiro’s first games at the club. It was a proactive, high-pressing game that did cause havoc among Slovan’s defenders at times. With the ball, Hesper build out from the back and progress the attacks slowly, keeping possession. They do nevertheless rely on crosses from pinpoint crosser wing-backs Ekofo and Cédric Sacras.
Embed from Getty ImagesWhat players should TNS watch out for?
Dominik Stolz is the captain and key attacker for Hesper. Converting and missing one penalty each against Slovan, the German has played in the 2. Bundesliga before, and also has Europa League group stage games on his CV – including an absolute banger against AC Milan. Small but technically gifted, he can cause problems.
Négo Ekofo in right wing-back, is also in great form. A versatile player who used to play as a winger, Ekofo wins his defensive duels frequently and has plenty of stamina to excel in a wing-back role.
Dejvid Sinani is an amateur player who missed the game in Slovakia due to work reasons, but he’s back in the squad for now. He’s a Luxembourgish international attacking midfielder, whose ball control, vision and long shots can produce threat. He has played for 3 of the country’s biggest clubs already, before signing for Hesper this summer.
Embed from Getty ImagesHow do you expect FC Swift Hesperange to line up?
Sinani will surely play if he’s available, as detailed above. The left wing-back position might be questionable, while neither Ayongo nor Anoff were convincing in attack, so it’s still up in the air whether we’ll see a new face up front. (Perhaps back to Gustavo)
(5-3-2): Duipre; Sacras, Skenderovic, prempeh, Simao, Ekofo; Morren, Couturier, Sinani; Stolz and Gustavo.
And how do you expect the ties to pan out?
I’m certainly optimistic. Compared to the other Luxembourgish teams’ possible opponents in round 3 (Midtjylland, Viktoria Plzen, Fenerbahçe), Hesper have the easiest route by far and having dominated Slovan over the two legs, only losing via two penalties, I’m hopeful this time the sloppiness will stay away from our defenders and we can manage to win.
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