UEFA Europa League: Hibs host Fehérvár, Floriana travel to Northern Ireland

Hibernians will be hosting Fehérvár of Hungary while Floriana will be travelling to Northern Ireland to face Linfield in their the UEFA Europa League second qualifying round. The draws were held at the House of European Football in Nyon, Switzerland on Monday.

Ties take place on 17 September, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if required. This season all qualifying ties will be single-leg matches behind closed doors. Winners advance to the UEFA Europa League third qualifying round – the draws for which will be held on Tuesday.

Floriana entered the Champions Path of the UEL second qualifying round after being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League first qualifying round following a 0-2 defeat to CFR Cluj while Hibernians feature in the Main Path following an impressive 2-0 win away from home over FC Vaduz of Liechtenstein.

Hibernians vs Fehérvár

Fehérvár were founded in 1941 and are based in Székesfehérvár, Hungary. The club was earlier known as Videoton FC and MOL Vidi FC. 

They won the championship three times – the last being in 2017/18, finishing in the runner-up spot eight times. They won the Hungarian Cup twice, the League Cup three times and the Super Cup twice. The most successful period in Videoton’s history came in the mid-1980s when Ferenc Kovács led the club to the final of the UEFA Cup in 1985. They won its first Hungarian League title in 2011 and managed to reach the group stages of the Europa League in the 2012/13 season.

In 2017, they were drawn with Balzan where they managed to qualify thanks to a 5-3 aggregate win with Balzan holding them in a 3-3 draw at the Centenary Stadium.

Last season, Fehérvár finished second in the Hungarian league last season thirteen points behind champions Ferencvaros.

In the first qualifiying round of the UEFA Europa League, they hosted Bohemians of Ireland, defeating them on penalties following a 1-1 draw at the end of the ninety minutes and extra-time.

Linfield vs Floriana

Linfield Football Club is a semi-professional club based in Belfast. The club was founded in 1886 as Linfield Athletic Club and in 1905 moved into their current home of Windsor Park, which is also the home of the Northern Ireland national team.

They won the Irish League championship 54 times, the Irish Cup 43 times, the Irish League Cup ten times and the County Antrim Shield 43 times.

As Northern Ireland’s most dominant club side, Linfield have been regular campaigners in European football. The club first participated in European competition in 1959 against Göteborg in the 1959–60 European Cup.

Linfield’s most notable achievement in European competition to date is reaching the quarter-finals of the 1966–67 European Cup.

In recent years, their best achievement was reaching the play-off round of the UEFA Europa League last summer when they eliminated HB Torhsavn and Sutjeska of Montenegro but were eliminated by Qarabagh on the away-goals rule. This summer they eliminated Tre Fiori of San Marino with a 2-0 win and they were awarded a 3-0 win by default over Drita of Kosovo by UEFA in the Preliminary Round final after two Drita players tested positive for COVID-19. In the first qualifying round, they lost 0-1 to Legia Warsaw of Poland.

Second qualifying round ties: 17 September

Champions Path

Inter Escaldes (AND) vs Dundalk (IRL)
KuPS (FIN) vs Slovan Bratislava (SVK)
Linfield (NIR) vs Floriana (MLT)
Riga (LVA) vs Tre Fiori (SMR)
Djurgården (SWE) vs Europa (GIB)
Flora Tallinn (EST) vs KR Reykjavík (ISL)
Sileks (MKD) vs Drita (KOS)
Astana (KAZ) vs Budućnost Podgorica (MNE)
Ararat-Armenia (ARM) vs Fola Esch (LUX)
Connah’s Quay Nomads (WAL) vs Dinamo Tbilisi (GEO)

Main Path

Hammarby (SWE) vs Lech (POL)
Kaysar Kyzylorda (KAZ) vs APOEL (CYP)
Nõmme Kalju (EST) or Mura (SVN) v AGF Aarhus (DEN)
Maccabi Haifa (ISR) or Željezničar (BIH) vs Kairat Almaty (KAZ)
Locomotive Tbilisi (GEO) vs Dynamo Moskva (RUS)
Neftçi (AZE) vs Galatasaray (TUR)
B36 Tórshavn (FRO) vs TNS (WAL)
Coleraine (NIR) vs Motherwell (SCO)
IFK Göteborg (SWE) vs Copenhagen (DEN)
Bačka Topola (SRB) vs FCSB (ROU)
Teuta (ALB) vs Granada (ESP)
OFI Crete (GRE) vs Apollon Limassol (CYP)
Progrès (LUX) vs Willem II (NED)
Viking (NOR) vs Aberdeen (SCO)
Bala (WAL) vs Standard Liège (BEL)
Sfintul Gheorghe Suruceni (MDA) vs Partizan (SRB)
CSKA-Sofia (BUL) vs BATE Borisov (BLR)
Botoşani (ROU) vs Shkëndija (MKD)
Lokomotiv Plovdiv (BUL) vs Tottenham (ENG)
Laç (ALB) vs Hapoel Beer-Sheva (ISR)
Aris (GRE) vs Kolos Kovalivka (UKR)
Budapest Honvéd (HUN) vs Malmö (SWE)
Ventspils (LVA) vs Rosenborg (NOR)
Riteriai (LTU) vs Slovan Liberec (CZE)
Lincoln Red Imps (GIB) vs Rangers (SCO)
Servette (SUI) vs Reims (FRA)
Borac Banja Luka (BIH) vs Rio Ave (POR)
Renova (MKD) vs Hajduk Split (CRO)
Olimpija Ljubljana (SVN) vs Zrinjski (BIH)
Kukës (ALB) vs Wolfsburg (GER)
Dunajská Streda (SVK) vs Jablonec (CZE)
Piast Gliwice (POL) vs Hartberg (AUT)
Osijek (CRO) vs Basel (SUI)
Shamrock Rovers (IRL) vs AC Milan (ITA)
Hibernians (MLT) vs Fehérvár (HUN)
Bodø/Glimt (NOR) vs Žalgiris Vilnius (LTU)