Preview: Saburtalo Tbilisi vs Flora - prediction, team news, lineups

Heading into the second leg of their Champions League first qualifying round tie on Tuesday night, Saburtalo Tbilisi and Flora meet again with the Georgian side holding a slender 3-2 aggregate advantage.

The Red Eagles secured victory in Estonia last week and will face Slovan Bratislava in the second qualifying round later this month if they can finish the job on home soil.

Match preview

Saburtalo Tbilisi, now known as FC Iberia 1999, are currently competing in just their third-ever Champions League qualifying campaign, with the Georgian side only progressing beyond the first round once before.

The Red Eagles suffered an early exit last season after losing 6-2 on aggregate to Malmo, but they have started their 2026-27 European campaign in impressive fashion after claiming a 3-2 victory away at Flora in the first leg.

Should they progress to the second qualifying round, Iberia will be hoping to improve on their previous best run in the competition, having been eliminated by Dinamo Zagreb at that stage during the 2019-20 campaign.

In the dugout, Andriy Demchenko recently replaced Guga Nergadze and has endured a mixed start at a club that has won back-to-back Georgian league titles.

The club based in the Georgia capital currently sit top of the Erovnuli Liga by two points and are on course for a fourth league title in their history, as well as a third consecutive championship, although they have won just two of their last five domestic fixtures and were knocked out of the Georgian Super Cup semi-finals after a penalty shootout defeat against Torpedo Kutaisi.

Iberia's rapid rise in Georgian football has seen them establish themselves as one of the country's leading clubs in recent years, and the next few weeks could provide another historic moment as they attempt to reach a stage of Champions League qualifying they have never previously achieved.

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As for Tuesday's visitors, Flora travel to Tbilisi needing to overturn a 3-2 deficit if they are to qualify for the second round and continue their push towards reaching the Champions League proper for the first time.

Despite being Estonia's most successful top-flight club after lifting a record 16th Meistriliiga title in 2025, Flora have never progressed beyond the second qualifying round of the Champions League, although they have reached that stage on three previous occasions.

Their hopes of securing European football next season are also under threat domestically, with only the Meistriliiga champions guaranteed a place in Champions League qualifying while the teams finishing second and third enter the Conference League qualifiers.

Konstantin Vassiljev's side currently sit second in the table, 10 points behind leaders Levadia at the halfway stage of the campaign, although they do have a game in hand.

However, Flora have already suffered six league defeats this season, matching their total from the entirety of the 2025 campaign.

Iberia raced into a 2-0 lead after just 21 minutes in last week's first leg before Flora fought back to level the tie, only for Bakar Kardava's late strike to restore the Red Eagles' advantage and leave the tie very much in the balance. 

Saburtalo Tbilisi Champions League form:

Saburtalo Tbilisi form (all competitions):

Flora Champions League form:

Flora form (all competitions):

Team News

© Imago

Iberia will be disappointed that their first-leg advantage was reduced after initially controlling the match, but the performance may encourage Demchenko to keep changes to a minimum for Tuesday's decisive second leg.

However, they will remain without defender Derek Agyakwa and attacker Iuri Tabatadze, who are both unavailable due to injury.

Bakar Kardava is expected to continue in midfield, while 17-year-old loanee winger Andria Bartishvili should retain his place in the lineup.

Flora, meanwhile, will be forced into at least one change after Airon Kollo was sent off during the second half of the first leg.

Kollo received his marching orders for a professional foul and will miss this one through suspension, with Robert Veering expected to replace him in a 4-3-3 system.

Rauno Sappinen, who has scored 181 goals in 318 appearances for Flora, is expected to captain the side and lead the line once again as they look to produce a memorable comeback.

Saburtalo Tbilisi possible starting lineup:

Makaridze; Zohouri, Selimovic, Amisulashvili, Jinjolava; Sikharulashvili, Dadian, Kardava; Bartishvili, Bedoshvili, Natchkebia

Flora possible starting lineup:

Grunvald; Kuraksin, Kolobov, Veering, Tovstik; Valdmets, Kreida, Varjund; Zenjov, Sappinen, Alamaa

We say: Saburtalo Tbilisi 2-1 Flora (5-3 aggregate)

Champions League qualifying ties are often difficult to predict, but the first-leg result has given Iberia a significant advantage heading into Tuesday's meeting.

With Flora forced into changes following Kollo's suspension and the Georgian side arriving with the momentum of a first-leg victory, we expect the hosts to complete the job and secure a second qualifying round tie against Slovan Bratislava.

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