Flora Tallinn exit Champions League after 1-7 aggregate loss to NK Celje

Estonian champions Flora Tallinn's exit from the 2024/25 Champions League was confirmed on Tuesday after the side lost 1-2 away to Slovenian champions NK Celje. The result was a major improvement on Flora's 0-5 home defeat in the first leg a week before, but they will now drop into the UEFA Conference League, after losing 1-7 on aggregate.
After the departure of head coach Jakob Hurt last week, Flora headed to Slovenia with Taavi Viik at the helm for the first time. Viik could hardly have asked for a better start to his reign, with the Estonian champions taking just 12 minutes to open the scoring through 17-year-old forward Tony Varjund.
While Flora had a mountain to climb after going down 0-5 in the first leg a week before, they held the lead for just over an hour in this one, and it looked like they might come away with an impressive win.
However, Celje's overall superiority shone through mid-way through the second-half. First, Aljoša Matko's 73rd-minute penalty brought the home side level, before they found themselves in front just three minutes later thanks to substitute Žan Karnicnik.
With the game finishing a credible 2-1 to the Slovenian side, there were plenty of positives for Flora to take from the game, though the 1-7 aggregate defeat means their Champions League hopes are over for at least another year.
Flora will now drop into the UEFA Conference League, where they will fancy their chances of getting past the champions of San Marino, AC Virtus in the second qualifying round. Virtus were comprehensively beaten 11-1 by Romania's top club FCSB over two leagues in their Champions League first preliminary round tie.
The two Champions League second qualifying round matches between Flora Tallinn and AC Virtus will take place on July 25 and August 1.
--
Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!
Editor: Anders Nõmm, Michael Cole