Preview: Tre Fiori vs Larne - prediction, team news, lineups

Northern Irish outfit Larne will begin their quest for the Champions League against hosts Tre Fiori at Stadio Olimpico di Serravalle on Tuesday in the first round of qualifying.

The 2026-27 season is fast approaching, and Larne will look to win the first leg of their qualifying tie against Tre Fiori, who managed to finish first in San Marino's top flight last term.

Match preview

Tre Fiori narrowly beat Virtus to first place in their domestic league, with their return of 73 points seeing them finish ahead of their title rivals by just one point.

That was the club's first league title since 2019-20, and they now have the opportunity to compete for a place in the Champions League, though they have never made it past the first qualifying round.

In fact, the hosts have never advanced beyond the qualifiers of any UEFA tournament, with their last continental adventure ending when they suffered a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Pyunik in the first qualifying round of the 2025-26 Conference League.

While Tre Fiori have not faced Larne before, they did encounter Norther Irish team Linfield in a preliminary qualifier for the 2020-21 Champions League, but they unfortunately were beaten 2-0.

Manager Danilo Girolomoni's side come into Tuesday's clash on the back of a draw and a defeat in their two most recent games, while they have also drawn two and lost one of their last four matches at home.

Larne claimed the top-flight title in Northern Ireland in 2025-26, ending the campaign with 83 points, three more than second-placed Coleraine.

The club's league title was only the third in their history, and Tuesday will be just their fifth ever match in the Champions League qualifiers.

Unfortunately for boss Gary Haveron, his side failed to win any of those four qualifying fixtures, losing three games while conceding 10 goals.

It should be noted that the visitors' European record is considerably better than their hosts' record given they reached the league phase of the Conference League in 2024-25, as well as the fact they have won seven of their 22 continental clashes overall.

Larne ended the 2025-26 campaign having suffered one defeat in their final six away matches, winning on four occasions while settling for a stalemate once.

They have only played one game so far this season, but that was a victory on penalties against Coleraine, with that win securing the Charity Shield after a goalless stalemate in regulation time.

Tre Fiori form (all competitions):

Larne form (all competitions):

Team News

It is difficult to know exactly how Tre Fiori will line up considering it is the start of a new season, but perhaps goalkeeper Michele Nardi will be protected by central defenders Mattia Sancisi, Simone Rea and Alex Sirri.

Midfielders Federico Benedettini, Luca Censoni and Federico Dolcini could be stationed behind attackers Tommaso Bernardi and Matteo Prandelli.

Larne could look to field a three-man backline consisting of Sam McClelland, Matthew Ridley and Aaron Donnelly.

Christopher Gallagher may be positioned at the base of a midfield three that also features Conor McKendry and Mark Randall.

In the forward line, attacker Daniel Bent is likely to be joined by Tiarnan O'Connor, the latter of whom scored seven goals in the 2025-26 league season.

Tre Fiori possible starting lineup:

Nardi; Sancisi, Rea, Sirri; Sami, Benedettini, Censoni, Dolcini, Ponticelli; Bernardi, Prandelli

Larne possible starting lineup:

Ferguson; McClelland, Ridley, Donnelly; Cosgrove, McKendry, Gallagher, Randall, Graham; Bent, O'Connor