Europa League News: Amateur student side Cardiff Met crashes out at first hurdle
What's the story?
Welsh Premier League's Cardiff Metropolitan University FC have been eliminated from the Europa League, narrowly losing out on away goals to Luxembourg's FC Progrès Niederkorn in the preliminary qualifying round.
In case you didn't know...
Cardiff Met have a team drawn entirely of players from their affiliated university. The players are unpaid and actually have to contribute a £150 membership fee to the club each season if they wish to play.
The students were playing in Europe for the first time in their history after winning the Welsh top flight's playoff system.
The heart of the matter
Having missed out on European qualification in the past two seasons, they faced tough opposition in the form of Niederkorn, a professional side who had knocked Rangers out of Europe in 2017.
Met's prospects took a hit before the season even began, as their star striker Adam Roscrow departed to play professionally with AFC Wimbledon. They had lost the away leg in Luxembourg 1-0, but despite a 2-1 win in Cardiff to bring the score back to 2-2, the students go out on away goals.
Simply qualifying for the European competition was an amazing achievement for Met, who train twice a week and were playing in the Welsh third tier as recently as six years ago.
What's next?
Niederkorn move onto the first qualifying round where they will face off against Ireland's Cork City. If they manage to progress they could meet Rangers for a second time, if the Scottish giants manage to make it through their own tie against Gibraltar's St. Joseph's.
Meanwhile, Cardiff Met will look forward to the domestic season, having proved they have what it takes to go up against strong professional sides. Having finished 7th in the league last season, Met will no doubt be looking to compete at the top of the table this time around and earn European qualification for a second successive season.