The European fixtures are coming thick and fast for Larne.
It’s been a challenging start for the Irish Premiership champions as they embark on their historic journey in the Uefa Conference League.
Tiernan Lynch’s side are back in action against Swiss side St Gallen at Windsor Park on Thursday as they look to register their first win in Europe.
But who are the Swiss team that stand between Larne and more European history?
Swiss Super League side St Gallen were founded 145 years ago and are one of the oldest teams in Switzerland.
They have won the Swiss Super League on two occasions, most recently in 2000 but were runner’s up in the Covid-hit 2019-20 season.
St Gallen qualified for Europe by finishing fifth in the Swiss Super League last season, which meant they were the final team to secure a spot in the Uefa Conference League.
The have a number of famous results in their European history, most notably when they knocked Chelsea out of the Uefa Cup with a 2-1 aggregate win in 2000.
Enrico Maassen is their manager and they are captained by Lukas Goertler, who came through the ranks at Bayern Munich.
They also have a number of internationals in their team, including Ghana duo Lawrence Ati-Zigi and Stephan Ambrosius, DR Congo’s Chadrac Akolo and forward Kevin Csoboth, who was in Hungary’s Euro 2024 squad.
Like Larne, St Gallen have lost both of their openers in Europe and Thursday’s opponents occupy 35th and 36th places in the Conference League.
They were hammered 6-2 by Cercle Brugge in their opening match in Belgium.
In their second outing, they faced Italian giants and two-time finalists Fiorentina and, although they netted twice, lost 4-2.
Domestically, it’s safe to say St Gallen’s form hasn’t been great.
They are without a win in their last six league matches and sit seventh in the table after 13 matches.
Four of their last five matches in the Swiss Super League have ended in a draw and discipline has also been an issues with two red cards in that time.
In comparison, Larne, who lost 3-0 in Molde and 4-1 at home to Shamrock Rovers, have only won two of their last five matches in the Irish Premiership.
Lynch’s side are currently bottom of the standings and, after facing their Swiss opponents, round out their Conference League fixtures away to Slovenian side Olimpija and Dinamo Minsk of Belarus, before a final home match with Gent.
They head into Thursday’s match after a 2-0 league victory over Glentoran in Belfast.
