Women’s League champions Birkirkara face SFK 2000 Sarajevo of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the semi-final of Group 7 of the UEFA Women’s Champions League at the Cluj Arena in Cluj-Napoca on Thursday, kick-off at 10:00.

With Jose Borg taking over as new coach, the Stripes have been strengthened in the past days with the arrival of four foreign players, namely English goalkeeper Erin White, Italian midfielders Marta Grosso and Gaia Milan and Canadian forward Sofia Ioderosa.

Sarajevo are entering for a record 20th time (including the pre-2009 UEFA Women’s Cup), setting a new outright record of 20 straight appearances. On the other hand, for Birkirkara, this will be their tenth participation.

The nineteen-time Bosnia and Herzegovina Women’s Premier League champions made it to the Round of 32 on three occasions and following the change in format of the Women’s Champions League, reached the second qualifying round in 2020/21 and finished third in their group last season.

On the other hand, although Birkirkara are yet to register their first win in the competition – their only positive result being a 2-2 draw with Cardiff Met Ladies in 2018, the Stripes’ performances in the competition improved considerably in recent years.

Meanwhile in the other semi-final, kick-off at 17:00, Olimpia Cluj host Glentoran of Northern Ireland. The final is scheduled for Sunday, kick-off at 17:00, with the match for third place kicking-off at 10:00.