This year, Pyunik started the fight from the first round of Champions League qualification. Unfortunately, our team failed to overcome Dinamo Minsk and will continue the fight in the European Cups from the second round of the Conference League qualification. Here our rival is the current champion of North Macedonia, Struga, which lost to Slovan Bratislava in the highest ranking European tournament.

Pyunik is going to face Struga for the first time. However, the reigning champion of Armenia has competed with teams representing North Macedonia 8 times in the European tournament and never lost: 5 wins, 3 draws and a goal ratio of 14:7.

In confrontations with North Macedonian teams, Edgar Manucharyan with 3 goals was our most effective footballer. Viulen Ayvazyan and Bakar Balde stood out twice each.

Struga, which has a 9-year history, has appeared in the spotlight of our press service.

The foundation of the club

After its foundation in 2015, the club played in the 4th division of North Macedonia and gradually improved its positions.

It should be noted that in the country's second strongest league, the teams are divided into two different groups: the West and the East. And here, according to the results of the 2018/19 season, Struga took the first place among the teams of the West and got the right to participate in the Premier League, the main domestic championship.

Struga strengthens in the top ranks

In its first season, Struga placed last, 10th, in the standings with 25 points.

Meanwhile, in the 2020/21 season, our rival not only preserved its place in the strongest group, but also proved that had reached there deservedly, ranking third in the standings with 57 points and qualifying for the Conference League qualifying round.

In the 2022/23 season, for the first time in its history, Struga achieved tangible success, becoming national champion. The winner of the domestic championship won 20 out of 30 games that season, drew 8 and lost only two.

In that season, Besart Ibraimi, already a legend of the club, made great impression, leading the season's top scorer race with 18 goals. It’s noteworthy, Ibraimi became the runner-up of the Bundesliga in the 2009/10 season playing for Schalke-04.

In the last season, the fight for the champion title stretched until the last round. Struga and Shkendija ended the championship with equal 64 points. In the end, the title of champion of North Macedonia was taken by Struga thanks to additional indicators. In the previous season, Besart Ibraimi was again the best in the champion’s squad with 15 goals.

The way to Europe

As it was already mentioned above, Struga made its first attempt in the European Cups in the 2021/22 season, taking part in the Conference League first qualifying round. The competition for the North Macedonian team ended in the same round, with a 2:5 defeat against Liepaja of Latvia.

Struga represented their country in the Champions League for the first time last season, where they dropped out of the first round. It is noteworthy that Struga lost to Zhalgiris, which suffered defeat from our team in the home match of the group stage of the Conference League of the 2022/23 season (2:0).

Both in the last and present seasons the North Macedonian champion retreated to the second round of the Conference League, where Struga celebrated their first victories in the European Cup. The North Macedonians left behind Buducnost and Hesperange of Luxembourg and were just one step away from the group stage of the tournament.

However, the Icelandic Breidablik narrowly won both legs and left them behind (1:0), (0:1).

In the Champions League first qualifying round of the current season, Struga faced Slovan Bratislava. As a result of the two-match confrontation, the Slovakian champion defeated the North Macedonian rival 6:3 and left it out of the battle of the strongest.

The heroes of the present

Struga is a new name in the world of football and the footballers who contributed to the team are still defending the colors of the team. The average age of our rivals is 26.8.

Besart Ibraimi, the best scorer in the history of the North Macedonian club, has scored 43 goals in 68 games for the club.

Bunyamin Shabani is the player with the most appearances. The 33-year-old player participated in 133 games for the native team. It should be noted that Shabani has also played for Shirak Gyumri.

Three football players of Struga are invited to the North Macedonia youth team.

Qatip Osmani, one of the active members of North Macedonian club football

Struga has been coached by Qatip Osmani since May of this year. The 55-year-old specialist became the champion of North Macedonia 3 times with Shkendija. In the 2018/19 season, under the leadership of Osmani, the club reached the Champions League third qualifying round, overcoming The New Saints of Wales and Moldovan Sheriff.

The European Cup adventures under the leadership of Osmani ended with two consecutive defeats in the third round of the Champions League from Red Bull Sazburg and in the playoff round of the Europa League qualification from Norwegian Rosenborg.

The teams led by Osmani won 171 out of 363 games in the Macedonian domestic championship.

The 55-year-old specialist's favorite formation is 4-2-3-1. Osmani mainly likes intense football, the clear proof of it was Shkendija's 2017/18 championship season, where the team scored 101 goals in 36 games, 48 ​​goals more than the nearest rival had.

Our former players in Struga

It should be noted that Kire Ristevski, Marjan Radeski and Stefan Spirovski, who played for Pyunik and the North Macedonia national team, play for Struga at present.

Besides them, six new footballers have joined Struga during the transfer window.