Focus on SP Tre Fiori of San Marino, who Celtic could play in the Europa League this month

Celtic’s potential Qualifying Round 3 opponents in Europe: SP Tre Fiori of San Marino…

Whilst Latvian champions Riga FC are firm favourites to progress from their second qualifying round tie to meet Celtic later this month, their next opponents, SP Tre Fiori, will be desperate to set up the biggest game in their history. We profiled Riga FC on The Celtic Star yesterday and you can catch up with that article HERE. Today the focus turns to SP Tre Fiori of San Marino.

So, what do we know about the Sammarinese club?

Founded

Societa Polisportiva Tre Fiori was founded in 1949 in Fiorentino, one of the nine communes in the Republic of San Marino, a landlocked nation near Rimini on Italy’s Adriatic coast.

Colours

The club’s home kit is yellow shirts with blue shorts and socks, whilst the Tre Fiori players wear an all-yellow outfit on the road.

Nickname

Whilst the club name translates from Italian as ‘Three Flowers,’ Tre Fiori’s nickname is Ultras.

Stadium

Tre Fiori play their home games at the Stadio di Fiorentino, which has a capacity of 1,000, although major fixtures often take place at the Stadio Olimpico in Serravalle. The national stadium is all-seated and has a capacity of just under 7,000.

Season 2019/20

The 2019/20 Campionato Sammarinese was suspended due to the COVID pandemic with six Second Stage games and a convoluted knockout phase remaining. At that point, Tre Fiori were four points ahead of Folgore, with defending champions Tre Penne a further point behind.

Domestic record

Tre Fiori has won a record eight Sammarinese League titles since breaking its duck in 1987/88, including three successive championships from 1992/93 then again from 2008/09. Last season’s triumph was the club’s first since 2011. They have also won the national Coppa Titano six times, with the first of those way back in 1966.

European record

Tre Fiori made their competitive debut in European competition in the first qualifying round of the 2009/10 Champions League, losing 5-4 in a penalty shootout to Andorra’s Sant Julia, after both legs had ended 1-1.

In July 2018, they became the first Sammarinese team to win a European tie when they beat Welsh outfit Bala Town 3-1 on aggregate in the preliminary round of the Europa League. The 3-0 ‘home’ victory – the match actually played in Forli in northern Italy, due to renovation works in Serravalle – remains the only Tre Fiori victory in Europe. They lost the second leg by 1-0 in Rhyl then succumbed 10-0 to Slovenians Rudar Velenje in the first qualifying round.

Last season wasn’t much better, Tre Fiori going down 9-1 on aggregate to KI Klaksvik of the Faroe Islands in the preliminary round of the Europa League

And Tre Fiori were defeated 2-0 by Linfield in Nyon on 8 August 2020 in the preliminary round of this season’s Champions League, thanks to two goals in the final 20 minutes.

Previous meetings

Celtic have never faced Sammarinese opposition previously. As, this is also the case for Latvia, the Hoops will be breaking new ground whatever happens in the second-round qualifier between Riga and Tre Fiori at the Skonto Stadium on 17 September.

Current personnel

The Tre Fiori squad mainly hail from either San Marino or Italy, however, they also include a couple of attacking players from Croatia and Cuba.

Italian Paolo Tarini is the manager of Tre Fiori, having previously enjoyed spells at the club as both player and coach. Here is some action footage including an incredible own goal, don’t miss that!