Match Preview — myBET HELPER

📊 Match Insights

Red Bull Salzburg will travel to Cyprus on Thursday to face Pafos FC in the Europa League qualifying match at the Alphamega Stadium. The Austrian team enters the second leg of their third-round qualifying tie with a slim advantage, having secured a 1-0 win at home last week. Pafos is aiming to reach the main draw of a European competition for the third year in a row, following their appearances in the Conference League in 2024-25 and the Champions League in 2025-26. The Cypriot club began their current European campaign with an impressive 4-2 aggregate victory over Hajduk Split, managing to overturn a two-goal deficit from the first leg with a stunning 4-0 win in extra time at home. For Ricardo Sa Pinto's team to progress to the playoff round, they will need to replicate that comeback after falling to a late goal in their previous match against Salzburg. The return leg will be held at the Alphamega Stadium in Limassol since their usual venue, the Stelios Kyriakides Stadium, does not meet UEFA requirements. However, Pafos can draw confidence from their recent record, having won eight of their last 12 European matches played in Cyprus (D3, L1), with their sole defeat during this stretch coming against Bayern Munich in last season's Champions League group stage. Should Pafos manage to turn the tie around, they will face Mjallby, but if they do not succeed, they will drop to the Conference League playoff round against either Auda or Dinamo City. In contrast, Salzburg's Europa League journey began in the third qualifying round after finishing third in the Austrian Bundesliga last season.