UEFA Champions League third qualifying round draw

Valletta will be meeting the winner of the clash between Linfield and BATE Borisov should they manage to eliminate FK Ekranas of Lithuania following next Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League second qualifying round second leg. The draws for the third qualifying round of the competition were held on Tuesday at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon.

Valletta lost 2-3 to the Lithuanian champions last week and therefore need a win by a two-goal difference to reach the next stage.

The first leg between Linfield and BATE Borisov ended in a 1-1 draw and therefore the team from Belarus start as favourites to move on to the next round.

Linfield F.C. is a semi-professional, Northern Irish football club, whose home ground is Windsor Park in Belfast, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland international team. They play in the IFA Premiership and won the championship title a record 50 times, since the 1890–1891 season when they became the first ever champions of the League.

FC BATE Borisov is a Belarusian football team playing in the city of Borisov. They compete in the Belarusian Premier League and are the reigning champions. BATE are the only Belarusian team to have qualified for the group stage of the UEFA Champions League (2008–09) and for the group stage of the UEFA Europa League (2009–10 and 2010–11).

Ties will be played over 26/27 July and 2/3 August. The losing sides will go on to the UEFA Europa League play-offs while the winners will compete for a place in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Champions Route
FK Mogren (MNE)/PFC Litex Lovech (BUL) v Skonto FC (LVA)/Wis?a Kraków (POL)
Maccabi Haifa FC (ISR)/FK Borac Banja Luka (BIH) v NK Maribor (SVN)/F91 Dudelange (LUX)
HJK Helsinki (FIN)/Bangor City FC (WAL) v NK Dinamo Zagreb (CRO)/Neftçi PFK (AZE)
KS Skënderbeu (ALB)/APOEL FC (CYP) v ŠK Slovan Bratislava (SVK)/FC Tobol Kostanay (KAZ)
FC København (DEN) v Shamrock Rovers FC (IRL)/FC Flora Tallinn (EST)
KRC Genk (BEL) v FK Partizan (SRB)/FK Skendija 79 (MKD)
Rosenborg BK (NOR)/Breidablik (ISL) v FC Pyunik (ARM)/FC Viktoria Plze? (CZE)
FC Zestafoni (GEO)/FC Dacia Chisinau (MDA) v SK Sturm Graz (AUT)/Videoton FC (HUN)
Valletta FC (MLT)/FK Ekranas (LTU) v Linfield FC (NIR)/FC BATE Borisov (BLR)
Rangers FC (SCO) v Malmö FF (SWE)/HB Tórshavn (FRO)

League Route
R. Standard de Liège (BEL) v FC Zürich (SUI)
FC Twente (NED) v FC Vaslui (ROU)
SL Benfica (POR) v Trabzonspor A? (TUR)
FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR) v FC Rubin Kazan (RUS)
Odense BK (DEN) v Panathinaikos FC (GRE)