After 16 years, La Liga Club Osasuna is scheduled to play in Europe again

Osasuna, a top-flight team in the Spanish League, is getting ready to play in Europe for the first time since 2007. On Thursday, they will play the opening leg of the Conference League play-offs against the Belgian team Club Brugge.

The Pamplona-based team finished eighth in the Spanish division last year, but they had to wait until their seat in the Conference division was guaranteed. This is mainly because to an investigation into suspicions of match-fixing during the 2013–2014 La Liga season.

The club was originally disqualified from the tournament, but after an appeal, its standing was reinstated. They were fined 100,000 euros and told to give up 5% of any group stage earnings they would have earned, according to Xinhua.

UEFA found that the club’s previous directors, some of whom have subsequently received jail sentences in Spain, were responsible for organizing the match-fixing.

Osasuna came into this match with a 2-0 win against Celta Vigo to kick off La Liga, but the following weekend they lost 2-0 to Athletic Club Bilbao.

Kike Barja, a winger who missed last weekend’s game because of a minor muscular problem, is anticipated to be fit by Thursday. Jagoba Arrasate, the coach, intends to use his best lineup.

With three wins and one tie from its first four games, Bruges, which is currently dominating the Belgian league, proceeded to the first round with a commanding 10-2 aggregate victory against Knattspyrnufelag Akureyrar of Iceland.

Their illustrious European past includes making it to the final 16 of the Champions League the season before, coming out of a group that eliminated both Bayer Leverkusen and Atletico Madrid.

Predicting the result of this tie is difficult since the next leg is scheduled to take place in Belgium the following week. However, it would be rather ironic if Osasuna failed at this early level given their physical and legal struggles to return to European play after 16 years.