Possible opponents for Valletta, Hibs and Sirens revealed

The possible opponents for the three Maltese representatives in the UEFA Europa League were revealed on Sunday. The draw takes place on Monday 10 August at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland at 12:00 CET. Malta will be represented by Valletta, Hibernians and Sirens.

Teams were divided into 13 groups of six teams and two groups of eight teams for the draw to avoid clubs without an approved stadium being drawn against each other, in accordance with the principles set by the Club Competitions Committee. Sides from the same association cannot be drawn against each other.

Ties take place on 27 August, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if required. Winners advance to the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round.

Valletta are seeded in Group 3 along with Zrinjksi of Bosnia Herzegovina and the  winner of the clash between Lincoln Red Imps of Gibraltar and Prishtina of Kosovo. They could be drawn with Differdange of Luxembourg, Bala Town of Wales and Union Titus Petange of Luxembourg.

Hibernians are unseeded in Group 8 along with Zilina and Ruzomberok of Slovakia. Their possible opponents are Vaduz of Liechtenstein, The New Saints of Wales and Servette of Switzerland.

Sirens, on the other hand, are undeeded in Group 13 along with Shirak of Armenia and the winner of the clash between Engordany of Andorra and Zeta of Montenegro. They could therefore be drawn against one of the seeded teams in the grtoup, namely Progres Niederkorn of Luxembourg, FCSB of Romania and CSKA Sofia of Bulagria.

Group 1

Seeded

1 Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN)

2 Maribor (SVN)

3 St Joseph’s (GIB)/B36 Tórshavn (FRO)

Unseeded

4 Coleraine (NIR)/La Fiorita (SMR)

5 Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL)

6 Levadia Tallinn (EST)

Group 2

Seeded

1 Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU)

2 Riteriai (LTU)

3 Budapest Honvéd (HUN)

Unseeded

4 Derry City (IRL)

5 Paide Linnameeskond (EST)

6 Inter Turku (FIN)

Group 3

Seeded

1 Valletta (MLT)

2 Zrinjski (BIH)

3 Lincoln Red Imps (GIB)/Prishtina (KOS) 

Unseeded

4 Differdange (LUX)

5 Bala Town (WAL)

6 Union Titus Petange (LUX)

Group 4

Seeded

1 Aberdeen (SCO)

2 Rosenborg (NOR)

3 Motherwell (SCO) 

Unseeded

4 Breidablik (ISL)

5 NSÍ Runavík (FRO)/Barry Town United (WAL)

6 Glentoran (NIR)/HB Tórshavn (FRO)

Group 5

Seeded

1 Malmö (SWE)

2 Hammarby (SWE)

3 Kukës (ALB) 

Unseeded

4 Puskás Akadémia (HUN)

5 Cracovia Kraków (POL)

6 Slavia Sofia (BUL)

Group 6

Seeded

1 Shakhtyor Soligorsk (BLR)

2 Ventspils (LVA)

3 Dinamo Minsk (BLR) 

Unseeded

4 Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol (MDA)

5 Sfintul Gheorghe Suruceni (MDA)

6 Piast Gliwice (POL)

Group 7

Seeded

1 Shamrock Rovers (IRL)

2 AGF Aarhus (DEN)

3 FH Hafnarfjördur (ISL)

Unseeded

4 Honka Espoo (FIN)

5 Ilves Tampere (FIN)

6 Dunajská Streda (SVK)

Group 8

Seeded

1 Vaduz (LIE)

2 The New Saints (WAL)

3 Servette (SUI)

Unseeded

4 Žilina (SVK)

5 Hibernians (MLT)

6 Ružomberok (SVK)

Group 9

Seeded

1 Keşla (AZE)

2 Neftçi (AZE)

3 Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR) 

Unseeded

4 Shkupi (MKD)

5 Laçi (ALB)

6 Dinamo Batumi (GEO)

Group 10

Seeded

1 Bodø/Glimt (NOR)

2 Nõmme Kalju (EST)

3 Fehérvár (HUN) 

Unseeded

4 Mura (SVN)

5 Kauno Žalgiris (LTU)

6 Bohemian (IRL)

Group 11

Seeded

1 Maccabi Haifa (ISR)

2 Apollon Limassol (CYP)

3 Alashkert (ARM) 

Unseeded

4 Saburtalo (GEO)

5 Željezničar (BIH)

6 Renova (MKD)

Group 12

Seeded

1 Lech Poznań (POL)

2 Partizan (SRB)

3 Ordabasy Shymkent (KAZ) 

Unseeded

4 RFS (LVA)

5 Valmiera (LVA)

6 Botoşani (ROU)

Group 13

Seeded

1 Progrès Niederkorn (LUX)

2 FCSB (ROU)

3 CSKA-Sofia (BUL) 

Unseeded

4 Shirak (ARM)

5 Engordany (AND)/Zeta (MNE)

6 Sirens (MLT)

Group 14

Seeded

1 Universitatea Craiova (ROU)

2 Shkëndija (MKD)

3 Bačka Topola (SRB)

4 Kairat Almaty (KAZ) 

Unseeded

5 Noah (ARM)

6 Sumgayit City (AZE)

7 Petrocub-Hincesti (MDA)

8 Lokomotive Tbilisi (GEO)

Group 15

Seeded

1 APOEL (CYP)

2 Sutjeska (MNE)

3 Beitar Jerusalem (ISR)

4 Santa Coloma (AND)/Iskra Danilovgrad (MNE) 

Unseeded

5 Lokomotiv Plovdiv (BUL)

6 Borac Banja Luka (BIH)

7 Teuta (ALB)

8 Tre Penne (SMR)/Gjilani (KOS)