August 6, 2021 - In the Europa Conference League 3rd qualifying round, Osijek falls to CSKA Sofia, while Rijeka and Hibernian draw in Edinburgh. 

In the first game of the Conference League 3rd qualifying round, Osijek suffered a 2:4 (1:3) away defeat to CSKA in Sofia.

The scorers for CSKA were Mazikou (30), Carey (39), Caicedo (42), and Yomov (74), while Turicov (41-own goal) and Topčagić (90 + 3) scored for Osijek. 

CSKA was better from the beginning of the game. Striker Mazikou accepted the ball 30 meters from Osijek's goal, made his way into the penalty area, and overcame Ivušić from 10 meters for the lead. 

CSKA increased their lead to 2:0 in the 39th minute. Turicov got the ball on the right wing and crossed to Carey who sent the ball into the net with his head.

Osijek briefly returned to the game only two minutes later. Fiolić took the corner which forced Turicov to beat his own goalkeeper with an own goal header for 2:1. 

However, 2:1 lasted just over a minute. CSKA broke through the left side of Osijek's defense, this time Jomov fought for the space and crossed to Caicedo who scored for 3:1. 

In the second half, CSKA took the lead at 4:1, primarily thanks to the fast-footed Caicedo who rushed up the left side to find Yomov, who had no difficulty clearing the empty net.

Topčagić gave Osijek some hope with a goal for the final 4:2 in the third minute of added time. The return match is in Osijek in one week.

Rijeka played 1:1 (0:0) in the first match of the Conference League 3rd qualifying round away to Hibernian in Edinburgh.

Ampem (61) put Rijeka in the lead and Boyle (67) equalized for Hibernian. 

Rijeka took the lead in the 61st minute when the ball circled around the home penalty area before Vukčević found Ampem, who managed to head past Macey at the door for the Rijeka lead. 

Unfortunately, only six minutes later, Hibernian equalized after a corner kick eventually found Boyle who scored for 1:1.  The hosts had a great opportunity in added time, but the Rijeka goalkeeper stopped Mackay's shot to keep the score even. 

The return match will be played in Rijeka in one week.

Source: HRT

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NK Osijek was eliminated in the second round of the Europa League qualifiers after a penalty shootout against CSKA Sofia on Thursday at City Garden stadium. 

NK Osijek and CSKA Sofia met for the return match of the second round of the Europa League qualifiers on Thursday at City Garden stadium. Recall, Sofia won the first leg 1:0 at home, reports HRT on August 1, 2019.

Osijek needed to put up a tough fight to stay alive in the Europa League and did just that on Thursday night in Osijek. In the 23rd minute, Bočkaj hit the wall from a free-kick and had an even better opportunity a minute later when he crossed the ball to Šorša who shot over the goal. 

But Osijek finally got their chance in the 27th minute after Ante Majstorović nailed a header from Žaper's cross from the right. After exactly half an hour of play, the game could have been 2:0. Marić fooled the Sofia player to find Mance, though their stopper cleared Osijek’s attack. 

The game saw no other goals, and after 90 minutes with a 1:1 aggregate from both games, it went into extra time. However, no winner could be decided in the dramatic added minutes, and the winner was then to be decided on penalties. Unfortunately, Osijek failed to overcome the Bulgarian club on penalties, losing 3:4 in the end. Thus, Osijek joins Hajduk and is no longer competing in the Europa League this season.

City Garden Stadium in Osijek welcomed 7,200 spectators for the Europa League clash between Osijek and CSKA Sofia.

This game was also the return of Ljupko Petrović to City Garden. The expert took over CSKA Sofia after the club dismissed Dobromir Mitov at the beginning of the season. Petrović's first encounter with Osijek was his debut for the club, and in the second he beat city rivals Slavia 2:1.

Petrović is the best scorer in Osijek history with 139 goals and has achieved his greatest career success as the Crvena Zvezda (Red Star Belgrade) coach, winning the European title in 1991.

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