RRI Sports Club – Football
Universitatea Craiova set for UEFA Conference League away test
Florin Orban, 21.10.2026, 13:45
The second round of matches in the UEFA Conference League takes place on Thursday. Romania’s representative, Universitatea Craiova, faces an away fixture. The Romanian champions will take on the champions of the small Principality of Andorra, Inter Club d’Escaldes. The Andorran side will be facing Romanian opposition for the third time.
In 2022, they met CFR Cluj in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League. They were beaten 4-1 in Cluj, but managed a 1-1 draw in the return leg at home after taking a 1-0 lead into half-time. In 2025, Inter Club faced FCSB in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. The Romanian champions won 3-1 in Bucharest, but suffered a 2-1 defeat away from home, marking the first time a Romanian club had lost to a team from Andorra. After dropping out of the Champions League race, Inter Club took on Olimpija Ljubljana in the second qualifying round of the Conference League and were eliminated following a 1-1 draw at home and a 4-2 defeat in the return leg.
This season, however, the Andorran club succeeded in reaching the league phase of the UEFA Conference League. They were knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by another Iberian side, Lincoln Red Imps, the champions of Gibraltar, after losing 3-1 away and drawing 1-1 at home. Two impressive victories followed. In the third qualifying round of the Conference League, Inter Club overcame Estonia’s Flora Tallinn with a 2-0 home win and a 4-0 away victory. They then faced Kosovo’s Drita in the play-offs, progressing on penalties after a 2-2 draw away from home and a goalless draw on their own ground.
The UEFA Conference League league phase has now reached its second round of fixtures. In the opening round, played a week ago, Universitatea Craiova secured a 1-1 draw at home against Spanish side Getafe and delivered an encouraging performance. Inter Club d’Escaldes, meanwhile, lost 2-0 away to Sweden’s Mjällby.
Interestingly, UEFA statistics showed that the Andorran side outperformed the Swedish champions in both possession and completed passes. It is therefore fair to say that Universitatea Craiova cannot expect an easy evening in Andorra la Vella on Thursday. (VP)
