An evening of mixed emotions for the Albanian teams in the Conference League. Dinamo was narrowly defeated by Astana at the “Elbasan Arena”, while Vllaznia took an important step towards qualification, defeating Malisheva with a score of 2-1 at the “Loro Boriçi”.

Dinamo started their European adventure this season with a loss, after losing 1-0 to the Kazakhs from Astana in the first match of the first qualifying round. The Blues appeared demanding in the first half and tried to control the game, but the most dangerous chances were created by the visitors, who were stopped several times by the decisive saves of goalkeeper Teqja.

In the second half, the pace of the game slowed down, with Dinamo continuing to hold the initiative, while Astana waited for the right moment to strike on the counterattack. It was in a quick move that Karimov took advantage of a moment of uncertainty in the home defense and scored the goal that decided the fate of the match. The 1-0 loss leaves the question of qualification open, but the capital team will have to pull off a difficult comeback in the return match if they are to qualify.

On the other hand, Vllaznia took a heavy victory over Malisheva, triumphing 2-1 at “Loro Boriçi” and creating an advantage for the return match. The match started in the worst way for the Shkodran team, as the Kosovar team took the lead in the third minute with a spectacular goal directly from a corner kick, scored by Xhylani. However, the team led by Edi Martini reacted immediately and restored the balance thanks to Qato’s goal, ending the first half in a draw.

The decisive moment of the match came in the 55th minute, when Skovgard was sent off as the last player, leaving Malisheva with one less player. From the resulting penalty kick, Musta scored a beautiful goal on his debut in the red and blue jersey, overturning the result and securing the victory for Vllaznia.

The success becomes even more special considering the difficulties that the team from Shkodër faced. Due to the situation with the registration of players, only academy players were on the bench, while only the reinforcements Toma and Musta were available for their debut. Despite these shortcomings, Vllaznia showed character and got a victory that gives them confidence for the return challenge.