Riga Futsal Club came from behind twice to earn a 3-3 draw away to Kosovo champions Prishtina 01 in the first leg of the UEFA Futsal Champions League round of 16, setting up a balanced tie heading into next week’s decisive return match in Rīga.
Riga Futsal Club, the defending Latvian champion, finished second in their UEFA Futsal Champions League main round group behind Benfica, but ahead of clubs from Malta and Serbia. In the round-of-16 draw, the Latvian side was paired with Kosovo’s Prishtina 01.
The Rīga team entered the match as favourites and added even more intrigue by announcing a major reinforcement before kickoff – Brazil’s World Cup – winning goalkeeper Diego Roncaglio, formerly of Anderlecht, Benfica and Kairat, and last year with RFS Futsal. He was registered for this phase and started in goal, joining other Riga legionnaires such as Angel Claudino, Coelho, Daniel Airoso and Jose Eduardo.
However, the hosts made the better start and delivered a cold shock to the visitors. In the 6th minute, Drilon Maxharraj drove inside from the wing, beat Artjoms Kozlovskis and fired a low shot from distance past Roncaglio to make it 1-0.
Prishtina continued to exploit Riga’s uncharacteristic mistakes, and after another error they doubled their lead – again through Maxharraj, this time scoring from close range. Riga head coach Tiago Polido immediately called a timeout to stop the bleeding. Defensively the team stabilized, but in attack, despite long spells of possession, their efforts were either saved comfortably or missed the target.
Just before halftime, Riga finally broke through. Roncaglio picked out Angel Claudino, whose first-touch ball across goal found Viktors Kuļepovs, and he tapped it in to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Riga pushed hard after the break, but the equaliser took time to arrive. In the 32nd minute, after a corner from Dylan Vargas, Daniel Airoso met the ball with a volley to level the match at 2-2.
The hosts responded quickly: Ramadan Alaj restored Prishtina’s lead, forcing Riga to chase the game yet again. But despite Prishtina’s efforts to protect their advantage heading into the second leg, Riga found another late answer. In the 38th minute, following another Dylan Vargas corner, Claudino redirected the ball across goal, where Jose Eduardo reacted sharply to make it 3-3.
Riga even had a chance to steal a dramatic win in the closing seconds, but ultimately both sides head to the return leg level. The decisive match will be played next Friday in Riga.
The winner of the tie will advance to the quarterfinals, where they will face either the defending Champions League winners Palma or the winner of the duel between Palma and Ukrainian side HIT.
Prishtina 01 vs Riga Futsal Club – 3:3 (2:1)
Goals: Maxharraj 6′ 10′, Alaj 34′ | Kuļepovs 19′, Airoso 32′, Eduardo 38′
