1. FC Union Berlin’s opponent in the UEFA Europa Conference League play-off round is confirmed: Urs Fischer’s side will take on Finland’s KuPS.
Union will head to Finland next week (date tbc tomorrow) and the match will take place at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium. The return leg takes place at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium on Thursday August 26 with the exact kick-off time to be confirmed as soon as possible.
The six-time Finnish champions are second in the league behind HJK. Simo Valakari’s team have come through three rounds of qualification to get to this point. In the first round, KuPS overcame FC Noah of Armenia with a 5-1 aggregate victory. FC Worksla from Ukraine were beaten by the Finns in Round 2 with a 2-2 first leg encounter being matched in the return fixture. Lucas Rangel scored in extra-time to send KuPS into a tie with Astana which was completed on Thursday afternoon. Rangel’s hat-trick for KuPS in the away leg was decisive to secure a 5-4 aggregate victory and a clash with Union.