Possible opponents for Maltese clubs in UEFA Champions League, Europa League confirmed

UEFA confirmed the groups and seeded clubs for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

The draws for the UEFA Champions League will be held on Tuesday at 14:30 while those for the UEFA Europa League will be held at 15:30.

The 32 teams in the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round were divided into two groups (group 1 and 2) of ten teams and into one group (group 3) of 12 teams.

Within the three groups, the 32 teams are divided equally as 16 seeded teams and 16 unseeded teams.

Valletta are unseeded in Group 2 and their opponents will be one team among Celtic, Qarabağ, Sheriff Tiraspol, F91 Dudelange and Slovan Bratislava.

Group 1 (seeded sides in bold)
Astana (KAZ), Ludogorets (BUL), Crvena zvezda (SRB), Shkëndija (MKD), AIK (SWE)
Sūduva (LTU), CFR Cluj (ROU), Ferencváros (HUN), Nõmme Kalju (EST), Ararat-Armenia (ARM)

Group 2 (seeded sides in bold)
Celtic (SCO), Qarabağ (AZE), Sheriff Tiraspol (MDA), F91 Dudelange (LUX), Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
Valletta (MLT), Sarajevo (BIH), Sutjeska (MNE), Partizani (ALB), Saburtalo (GEO)

Group 3 (seeded sides in bold)
BATE Borisov (BLR), Maribor (SVN), Rosenborg (NOR), HJK Helsinki (FIN), Dundalk (IRL), The New Saints (WAL)
Winners of the preliminary round, Piast Gliwice (POL), Valur Reykjavík (ISL), Linfield (NIR), HB Tórshavn (FRO), Riga (LVA)

For each group, two pots are prepared, one for the seeded teams and the other for the unseeded teams. For each group, the balls containing the names of the seeded teams will be placed in one bowl and the balls containing the names of the unseeded teams will be put into another bowl. One ball will be taken from each bowl and placed in a large empty bowl in the middle, where they will be shuffled. The first team drawn will play its first match at home against the second team drawn. The same procedure is carried out with the remaining balls to complete all the pairings of the first group and then repeated to determine the pairings for the second and the third groups.

The first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League will be played on July 9/10 and 16/17.

The 94 teams (87 directly qualified and 7 pairs of teams from the preliminary round) were divided into seven groups (groups 1 to 7) of ten teams and two groups (groups 8 to 9) of 12 teams.

Within the nine groups, the 94 teams are divided equally as 47 seeded teams and 47 unseeded teams. If any club in the preliminary round has an individual coefficient that entitles it to be seeded in the first qualifying round, the winner of the preliminary round match involving that club is automatically seeded for the first qualifying-round draw.

Teams from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.

Gzira United were placed in Group 2 and they are set for a difficult clash with one team among Hajduk, Legia, Radnicki Niš, CSKA Sofia and Ordabasy Shymkent.

In Group 5, Hibernians will face one team among Fehérvár, Zrinjski, Shakhtyor Soligorsk, Neftçi and Levski Sofia.

On the other hand, in Group 9, Balzan will be meeting one team among Hapoel Beer-Sheva, AEK Larnaca, Domžale, Pyunik, Sabail and Budućnost Podgorica.

Group 1 (seeded sides in bold)
Vaduz (LIE), Kilmarnock (SCO), Brann (NOR), Vitebsk (BLR), Malmö (SWE)
Shamrock Rovers (IRL), Ballymena (NIR)/NSÍ (FRO), Connah’s Quay Nomads (WAL), KuPS Kuopio (FIN), Breidablik (ISL)

Group 2 (seeded sides in bold)
Hajduk (CRO), Legia (POL), Radnicki Niš (SRB), CSKA Sofia (BUL), Ordabasy Shymkent (KAZ)
Flora (EST), Torpedo Kutaisi (GEO), Sant Julià (AND)/Europa (GIB), Titograd (MNE), Gzira United (MLT)

Group 3 (seeded sides in bold)
Tobol Kostanay (KAZ), Kukësi (ALB), FCSB (ROU), Čukarički (SRB), Maccabi Haifa (ISR)
Milsami Orhei (MDA), Mura (SVN), Debrecen (HUN), Banants (ARM), Jeunesse Esch (LUX)

Group 4 (seeded sides in bold)
Rangers (SCO), Brøndby (DEN), Cork (IRL), Molde (NOR), Crusaders (NIR)
Progrès Niederkorn (LUX)/Cardiff Metropolitan University (WAL), B36 (FRO), Inter Turku (FIN), KR (ISL), Prishtina (KOS)/St Joseph’s (GIB)

Group 5 (seeded sides in bold)
Fehérvár (HUN), Zrinjski (BIH), Shakhtyor Soligorsk (BLR), Neftçi (AZE), Levski Sofia (BUL)
Hibernians (MLT), Ružomberok (SVK), Akademija Pandev (MKD), Speranta Nisporeni (MDA), FK Zeta (MNE)

Group 6 (seeded sides in bold)
Spartak Trnava (SVK), Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU), Fola Esch (LUX), Alashkert (ARM), Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)
Chikhura Sachkhere (GEO), Rīgas (LVA), Budapest Honvéd (HUN), Makedonija Skopje (MKD), Radnik Bijeljina (BIH)

Group 7 (seeded sides in bold)
Apollon Limassol (CYP), Kairat Almaty (KAZ), Ventspils (LVA), Cracovia Kraków (POL), Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)
Teuta (ALB), La Fiorita (SMR)/Engordany (AND), Široki Brijeg (BIH), DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda (SVK), Kauno Žalgiris (LTU)

Group 8 (seeded sides in bold)
Haugesund (NOR)
, Aberdeen (SCO), Stjarnan (ISL), Norrköping (SWE), Dinamo Minsk (BLR), Riteriai (LTU)
Liepāja (LVA), Levadia Tallinn (EST), Barry Town (WAL)/Cliftonville (NIR), Saint Patrick’s (IRL), RoPS Rovaniemi (FIN), KÍ (FRO)/Tre Fiori (SMR)

Group 9 (seeded sides in bold)
Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR)
, AEK Larnaca (CYP), Domžale (SVN), Pyunik (ARM), Sabail (AZE), Budućnost Podgorica (MNE)
U Craiova 1948 (ROU), Balzan (MLT), Laçi (ALB), Shkupi (MKD), Petrocub-Hincesti (MDA), Narva Trans (EST)

For Groups 1 to 7, all clubs have been ordered randomly and identified by a number: 1 to 5 for the seeded teams and 6 to 10 for the unseeded teams. Two bowls will be prepared, one containing balls with slips of paper numbered 1 to 5 for the seeded teams and the other containing balls with slips of paper numbered 6 to 10 for the unseeded teams. A ball will be taken from each bowl and placed in an empty bowl in the middle, where they will be shuffled. One of the two balls is drawn at random, then opened to display the number it contains. The second ball is drawn to complete the pairing. The result of this draw applies to all seven groups. For example, if the first ball drawn contains the number 2 and the second the number 8, the clubs that have been assigned the numbers 2 and 8 in each of the seven groups will play each other. In addition, the first ball drawn, here containing the number 2, designates the home team for the first leg and for all seven groups. The same procedure is carried out with the remaining balls to complete all the pairings.

On the other hand, for Groups 8 to 9, all clubs in the two groups will be ordered randomly and identified by a number: 1 to 6 for the seeded teams and 7 to 12 for the unseeded teams. Two bowls will be prepared, one containing balls with slips of paper numbered 1 to 6 for the seeded teams and the other containing balls with slips of paper numbered 7 to 12 for the unseeded teams. A ball will be taken from each bowl and placed in an empty bowl in the middle, where they will be shuffled. One of the two balls is drawn at random, then opened to display the number it contains. The second ball is drawn to complete the pairing. The result of this draw applies to both groups. In addition, the first ball drawn designates the home team for the first leg and for both groups. The same procedure is carried out with the remaining balls to complete all the pairings.

The first qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League will be played on July 11 and 18.