Strasbourg took a step towards the Europa League play-offs by winning 1-0 at the Bulgarians in Plovdiv in the first leg of the third round on Thursday, pending the result of Frankfurt-Vaduz, his two possible opponents in the next round.
Thanks to an early goal by their captain Stefan Mitrovic (11th), the Alsatians return from Bulgaria with the victory in their pocket and will only have to confirm this result at the Meinau next week to offer a dam against Frankfurt, half -finalist out of the C3 and arch-favorite against the Luxembourgers of Vaduz.
Wolverhampton easy, the PSV well away
Among the big bursts on Thursday, Wolverhampton already has one foot in the play-offs after having crushed the Pyunik Armenians 4-0 and is getting closer to a historic performance: the Wolves have not participated in a European Cup since nearly forty years and a first-round elimination of the UEFA Cup against PSV Eindhoven in 1980. The PSV also took an option on the qualification by winning 1-0 to the Norwegians of Haugesund thanks to a goal of its nugget house 21-year-old winger Steven Bergwijn, announced in the sights of Seville.
After this third preliminary round, whose return will take place next week, a barrage will await the winners with home and away matches. The group stage of the competition will start the second half of September.