Preview: Pen-y-Bont vs FC Santa Coloma - prediction, team news, lineups

Pen-y-Bont and FC Santa Coloma will meet at the Cardiff City Stadium on Thursday evening for the first leg of their Conference League first qualifying round tie.

The hosts have lost at this stage in each of their two prior qualifying attempts, while the visitors have won each of their last three first qualifying round ties in the Conference League.

Match preview

Pen-y-Bont competed in European competition for the first time in 2023-24, falling to a Conference League first qualifying round defeat to upcoming foes FC Santa Coloma, who secured a 3-1 aggregate victory. 

Bont returned to Conference League qualifying in 2025-26, once again losing in the first round, suffering a 4-1 aggregate defeat to Kauno Zalgiris. 

Rhys Griffiths, who has been in charge since 2016, has now guided Pen-y-Bont back to the Conference League qualifiers for the third time and second consecutive season, having won the JD Cymru Premier play-off final. 

Goals in either half from Chris Venables and Mael Davies secured a 2-0 win over Haverfordwest County, ensuring Bont will have the chance to compete in Europe yet again. 

Bont will be hoping to progress from the first qualifying round for the first time, and they will draw confidence from playing the first leg in front of a home crowd - having remained undefeated in their two previous home qualifying fixtures in this competition. 

However, Bont will face a familiar opponent on Thursday, and one that emerged victorious the last time the two sides met. 

Santa Coloma were held to a 1-1 draw in the first-leg of their Conference League first qualifying round tie with Bont in 2023-24, before being taken to extra-time in the second leg. 

Santa Coloma did eventually emerge victorious, with extra-time goals from Ivan Garrido Ciaurriz and Cristian Novoa securing a 2-0 win and 3-1 aggregate triumph. 

That victory was Santa Coloma's second of three straight first qualifying round victories in the Conference League, having defeated Mons Calpe 5-1 on aggregate in 2021-22 and Borac Banja Luka 4-3 on aggregate last season. 

Victor Vazquez will be hoping to maintain Santa Coloma's flawless qualifying record in the Conference League first round when they take on Bont, starting with Thursday's fixture. 

While the visitors are heading into the match as the favourites on paper, they have struggled in recent matches, winless in their last five and suffering three straight defeats prior to Thursday's game. 

Pen-y-Bont form (all competitions):

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FC Santa Coloma form (all competitions):

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Team News

Pen-y-Bont secured their place in the Conference League qualifiers with a 2-0 win over Haverfordwest County in the JD Cymru Premier play-off final, and Griffiths may opt to name a similar side in their first qualifying fixture on Thursday. 

Venables opened the scoring on that day, while the striker was also on the scoresheet the first time these two sides met in 2023, and the forward will be looking to add another goal at the Cardiff City Stadium.

Meanwhile, Santa Coloma have now lost each of their last three matches, and manager Vazquez may decide to make changes in search of a positive response on Thursday. 

Guillaume Lopez is expected to keep his place in the team, with Santa Coloma hopeful that last season's top scorer can make the difference here.

Pen-y-Bont possible starting lineup:

Higgs; Clay, Ludvigsen, Borge; Davies, Cvetkovic, Pritchard, Baker, Wood; Cann, Venables

FC Santa Coloma possible starting lineup:

Alcaraz; Padilla, Guti, San Nicolas, Andrade; Lopez, Barrenetxea, Arjona, Villar; Lopez, Munoz

We say: Pen-y-Bont 1-2 FC Santa Coloma

Pen-y-Bont are unbeaten at home in Europe and are in stronger form than their visitors, but Santa Coloma are certainly the stronger team on paper and should ultimately overpower their opponents and secure the victory.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.