Champions Valletta host FC Lusitans of Andorra in the first leg of the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League at the Hibernians Stadium, kick-off at 19:30.

Winning is a must for the Citizens as they eye a place in the second qualifying round of the competition where they would be facing Serbian giants Partizan Belgrade.

Last season, Valletta eliminated Tre Fiori of San Marino in the first round, beating them 3-0 and 2-1, but in the second qualifying round, they lost 4-2 on aggregate to Ekranas of Lithuania.

Coach Mark Miller is expected to field his best formation with the only players in doubt being Ryan Fenech and Terence Scerri.

FC Lusitans won the title in Andorra after finishing two points ahead of FC Santa Coloma and three ahead of UE Santa Coloma. This was their first league title in the history of the club after being promoted to the top division in 2000. Last season, they also reached the cup final but lost to FC Santa Coloma.

This is their third consecutive participation in UEFA competitions. In season 2010/11, they were eliminated from the first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League after losing 5-0 and 0-6 to Rabotnicki Skopje of FYR Macedonia. Last year, they also played in the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round, losing 5-1 to NK Varazdin of Croatia away from home and 1-0 at home.

The only occasion on which clubs from Malta and Andorra met each other was in the UEFA Champions League 2010/11 when Birkirkara eliminated FC Santa Coloma.