It could be the finest achievement in Luxembourg football history: The Europa League action involving Portuguese managers
In the Europa League play-off today, there may not have been any Portuguese clubs involved in the action - but three Portuguese managers were involved in the activity, suffering mixed fortunes.
The most surprising result was perhaps found in Luxembourg where Toni Conceicao's Cluj side suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat to F91 Dudelange, with two second-half strikes from David Turpel and Danel Sinani condemning the Romanian side to defeat.
With no away goal, Conceicao's team face a very difficult second leg fixture to overturn the deficit, and it looks as though the Luxembourg club may well achieve a feat no other side from the country has ever achieved by qualifying for the Europa League group stage for the first time in history, at the expense of the Portuguese manager. Luxembourg have never had such representation in Europe before, and it will surely be the finest achievement in Luxembourg footballing history.
Meanwhile, APOEL Nicosia, managed by Bruno Baltazar, who only joined the club this summer, had a much more productive day, coming away with a 1-0 home victory over FC Astana putting them in a solid position to qualify for group stage - although a trip to Kazakhstan can always prove difficult.
The other Portuguese coach in action tonight was Pedro Martins, manager of Greek outfit Olympiakos, who oversaw another excellent home victory, beating English Premier League side Burnley 3-1 to put the English club's European endeavours in jeopardy.
