Iberia – Levadia

The Champion of Georgia will take revenge for the defeat in Estonia

Iberia has dominated the national championship for the last couple of years. Last season marked the second championship title in the history of the young club. The team's triumph was achieved with the second coming of Levan Korghalidze to the managerial position. At the beginning of this decade, this coach reached a maximum of fourth place overall, but now he has led the team straight to the championship title. The last time the club, previously known as Saburtalo, participated in European competitions was in 2022. Then in their first qualifying round of the Conference League, the Georgian team defeated Steaua at home with a score of 1:0, but lost away by a larger margin - 2:4. Iberia's current European adventure began with the Champions League qualifiers, but just a few weeks later, the club is on the verge of exiting from the continent's third-tier tournament. Levadia consistently occupies either the first or second place in nearly every national championship. Moreover, the Estonian club represents such a weak league that it has not passed the qualification for continental tournaments for at least the last 25 years. Simply overcoming one qualifying round is a considerable success for the team. Bookmakers have identified the home team as the favourites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 1.65 for their victory. The first match between the opponents took place a week ago in Tallinn. Iberia and Levadia demonstrated fairly equal football, but luck smiled on the hosts in the 80th minute. The goal was scored by the Ghanaian forward of the team, Ernest Adjiery - 1:0. Prior to this match in the Champions League qualifying, Levadia lost twice to Latvian RFS with the same score of 0:1. A similar result (only twice with a score of 1:3) was demonstrated by Iberia in their encounters with Swedish Malmo. Last season, Iberia finished first in the national championship with a five-point lead over the nearest rival. In the current edition of Georgia's elite division, the capital club appears even more formidable. After eighteen rounds, Iberia has gained a six-point advantage over the chasing Dila, conceding only ten goals during this period. Let’s place a bet that the home team will end their streak of failures and take revenge against the guests from Estonia.