Valletta to host Bala Town, Hibs and Sirens to play away from home

Valletta will be hosting Bala Town of Wales while Hibernians and Sirens will be travelling to Liechtenstein and Bulgaria respectively in the first round of the UEFA Europa League first qualifying round. The draw was held at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday.

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, who were seeded, were drawn with Bala Town of Wales with the match to be played at home.

Hibernians, who were unseeded, were paired with Vaduz of Liechtenstein with the latter side hosting the game.

On the other hand, Sirens, who were also unseeded, were drawn with CSKA Sofia of Bulgaria. The match will be played in Sofia.

Maribor (SVN) vs Coleraine (NIR)/La Fiorita (SMR)
Riteriai (LTU) vs Derry City (IRL)
Zrinjski (BIH) vs Differdange (LUX)
Rosenborg (NOR) vs Breidablik (ISL)
Hammarby (SWE) vs Puskás Akadémia (HUN)
Ventspils (LVA) vs Dinamo-Auto Tiraspol (MDA)
AGF Aarhus (DEN) vs Honka Espoo (FIN)
The New Saints (WAL) vs Žilina (SVK)
Neftçi (AZE) vs Shkupi (MKD) 
Nõmme Kalju (EST) vs Mura (SVN)
Apollon Limassol (CYP) vs Saburtalo (GEO)
Partizan (SRB) vs RFS (LVA) 
FCSB (ROU) vs Shirak (ARM)

Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) vs Víkingur Reykjavík (ISL)
Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU) vs Paide Linnameeskond (EST)
Valletta (MLT) vs Bala Town (WAL)
Aberdeen (SCO) vs NSÍ Runavík (FRO)/Barry Town United (WAL)
Malmö (SWE) vs Cracovia Kraków (POL)
Shakhtyor Soligorsk (BLR) vs Sfintul Gheorghe Suruceni (MDA)
Shamrock Rovers (IRL) vs Ilves Tampere (FIN)
Vaduz (LIE) vs Hibernians (MLT)
Keşla (AZE) vs Laçi (ALB) 
Bodø/Glimt (NOR) vs Kauno Žalgiris (LTU)
Maccabi Haifa (ISR) vs Željezničar (BIH)
Lech Poznań (POL) vs Valmiera (LVA) 
Progrès Niederkorn (LUX) vs Engordany (AND)/Zeta (MNE)

St Joseph’s (GIB)/B36 Tórshavn (FRO) vs Levadia Tallinn (EST)
Budapest Honvéd (HUN) vs Inter Turku (FIN)
Lincoln Red Imps (GIB)/Prishtina (KOS) vs Union Titus Petange (LUX)
Motherwell (SCO) vs Glentoran (NIR)/HB Tórshavn (FRO)
Kukës (ALB) vs Slavia Sofia (BUL)
Dinamo Minsk (BLR) vs Piast Gliwice (POL)
Hafnarfjördur (ISL) vs Dunajská Streda (SVK)
Servette (SUI)vs Ružomberok (SVK)
Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR) vs Dinamo Batumi (GEO)
Fehérvár (HUN) vs Bohemian (IRL)
Alashkert (ARM) vs Renova (MKD)
Ordabasy Shymkent (KAZ) vs Botoşani (ROU)
CSKA-Sofia (BUL) vs Sirens (MLT)

Petrocub-Hincesti (MDA) vs Bačka Topola (SRB)
Teuta (ALB) vs Beitar Jerusalem (ISR) 
Sumgayit City (AZE) vs Shkëndija (MKD)
Borac Banja Luka (BIH) vs Sutjeska (MNE)
Kairat Almaty (KAZ) vs Noah (ARM)
Santa Coloma (AND)/Iskra Danilovgrad (MNE) vs Lokomotiv Plovdiv (BUL) 
Lokomotive Tbilisi (GEO) vs Universitatea Craiova (ROU)
Tre Penne (SMR)/Gjilani (KOS) vs APOEL (CYP)

Bala Town Football Club are based in the town of Bala, Gwynedd in Wales. The club was formed in 1880. They were promoted for the first time to the Cymru Premier (the top division in Wales) in 2009.

They ended twice as runners-up – in 2014/15 and 2015/16 – and won the Welsh Cup in 2016/17. This will be their sixth participation in the UEFA Europa League after always being eliminated from the first qualifying round or the Preliminary Round in the previous occasions.

Fussball Club Vaduz are based in Vaduz in Liechtenstein but play in the Swiss Football League. They currently play in the Swiss Challenge League (second division).

However they do take part in the Liechtenstein Cup which they won for 47 times and therefore have been participating regularly in the UEFA Europa League. They never managed to make it beyond the third qualifying round of the competition. 

CSKA, who are based in Sofia, were officially established in 1948. The club has won a record 31 times the Bulgarian league and 20 Bulgarian Cups. Internationally, CSKA are the only Bulgarian club to have reached the semi-finals of the European Cup, which they have done twice – in 1966/67 and 1981/82 when they were eliminated by Inter and Bayern Munich respectively, and they have also reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1988/89 when they were eliminated by Barcelona.

This will be the third time CSKA were paired with a Maltese club in a European competition. CSKA had defeated Sliema Wanderers with a 6-1 aggregate score in the European Cup in 1966 and Hibernians 4-1 in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1996.