Conference League: Strasbourg edge Rijeka

Despite a nervy end to the match RC Strasbourg kept their unbeaten run in Europe going with a 2-1 win in the first leg of the Round of 16 Conference League tie against Rijeka. Catch up on all the action from Croatia with our recap.  

Panichelli quick off the mark

To start the match, manager Gary O'Neil would have to do without Diego Moreira, as well as long-term absentee Emanuel Emegha, although he would welcome the return of Guela Doué, who had missed the team's Ligue 1 McDonald's match at the weekend through illness. Martial Godo was also dropped, with Samuel Amo-Ameyaw getting a rare start on the wing. 

In a lively atmosphere, Strasbourg were quick off the mark to quiet the crowd -- a long ball over the top from Valentín Barco found Sebastian Nanasi, and after his initial cross was blocked, he picked out Joaquín Panichelli, who needed little invitation to put his side ahead with just two minutes gone. Rijeka would threaten on eight minutes, as Racing struggled to clear a free kick but striker Toni Fruk screwed his effort wide from close range. Two minutes later, Panichelli was inches from a double as he smashed a shot off the crossbar, but Rijeka answered once more, with Fruk forcing a low save from Mike Penders.

Panichelli, who seemed to be in the mood to score, then chipped the ball wide on the counter, (15'), the match continuing to thrill with less than a quarter of an hour played. However, as exciting as the first quarter of an hour had been, the following 30 minutes were rather less so. A pair of speculative efforts from Julio Enciso were the only chances of note, and Panichelli's goal would separate the two sides at the break.

Another day at the office for Panichelli 🇦🇷🎯 pic.twitter.com/sCt27K9qVv

— Ligue 1 English (@Ligue1_ENG) March 12, 2026

A nervy ending

Second half -- pressure from Rijeka forces a series of corners. Racing then thought they had doubled their lead, but Nanasi was fractionally offside on the counter after a defence-splitting pass from Enciso just after the hour. Looking to record a more positive result, O'Neil would bring on  Godo, the team's leading scorer  in the competition and Abdoul Ouattara. But the next chance would fall again to the hosts, with Penders make a stretching save to preserve his clean sheet.

Godo would soon continue his good form in the competition, though, validating O'Neil's change. Just a moment after seeing an effort chalked off for offside, the Ivorian winger pounced on a loose ball in the box, hammering the ball into the roof of the net to make it 2-0 (72'). From there, Racing worked to preserve their lead ahead of next week's return leg at La Meinau, but were undone from a free kick, with Ante Majstorović heading home a powerful header to make it 2-1. Both sides scrapped for a further goal, but it would remain that way, with Racing glad to return to La Meinau with a narrow advantage ahead of next Thursday's second leg.

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