Destination Georgia

In a delicate situation after conceding a home draw against Irtysh Pavlodar (1-1), the Metallurg Rustavi managed to make the difference in the return leg, with a victory on the road (0-2) allowing them to qualify for the Europa League’s thirds qualifying round. A goal in each half (Irakli Kobalia at the 23rd minute and Irakli Modebadze at the 57th) were enough for the Georgians to clinch their qualification against the Kazakhs.

The qualification is only partially advantaging the Stade Rennais. Ignoring the level of the future opponent, the “Rouge et Noir” squad will be happy to have a trip to Rustavi slightly shorter than they would have had on menu if Pavlodar had qualified. The Rennais avoided a few additional thousands of kilometres and several hours of flying.
However, the Georgian qualification, in conjunction with this of another club of the same country, has got a direct impact on the “Rouge et Noir”’s calendar. According to the club’s official website, the order of games should be inverted: expected to host the return leg, Stade Rennes might have to travel to Georgia in order to clinch their qualification. Consequently, the Rustavi players will travel to Brittany as soon as next Thursday.
This inversion would have no consequence if the return leg had not been scheduled three days before Stade Rennais’ first Ligue 1 encounter at the stade Gaston- Gérard of Dijon. Three days in which the Rennais will try to recover from their trip… and from their game.

Before thinking about the league, Rennes will therefore have to think about Rustavi, a club from the suburbs of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. Founded twenty years ago in Tbilisi, the club moved to Rustavi in 2007. Champion of Georgia in 2007 and 2010, the Metallurg has been regularly involved in European competitions over the last few years.

In 2007, their first participation to the Champions League’s qualifying rounds ended up in an immediate elimination against Kazakh side FC Astana (0-0 in Georgia, 0-3 in Kazakhstan).
In 2009, the club entered the Europa League. After beating the Faeroe Islands team of Tórshavn in their first game (2-0 in each game), Rustavi fell against Legia Warsaw in the second round (0-3 in Warsaw, 0-1 in Rustavi).
Finally, last year, back in the Champions League, Rustavi lost again to a club from Kazakhstan, the FK Aktobe, as soon as the first round (0-2 in Aktobe, 1-1 in Rustavi).

This season, and for the first time in their history, the Metallurg Rustavi managed to get through two rounds of a European competition. After beating Armenian side Banants Erevan in the first round (victory in Armenia 1-0, draw in the return leg 1-1) and then finally managing a victory against a Kazakh team, the Georgian club will play against a Western European team for the first time. Clearly as much novelty for them as there is for the Stade Rennais.

- Photo : Legend : Poladi Stadium, where the Metallurgist Rustavi plays.
- Photo : Credits : Kotola001