UEFA has announced the seeded and unseeded clubs for next Friday’s draws in connection with the Champions League and the UEFA Cup.
Sliema Wanderers will be playing in the Champions League, while Birkirkara and Hibernians are taking part in the UEFA Cup.
The final of the Champions League will be played at the Stade de France in Paris next year. The UEFA Cup final next year is to be staged in Eindhoven.
In Sliema’s case, as has already been reported a few days ago, their possible opponents could also include title holders Liverpool who are one of a dozen seeded teams who will also be seeded should they progress into the second qualifying round.
The other 11 seeded clubs are Artmedia Bratislava (Slovakia), Anorthosis Famagusta (Cyprus), Gorica (Slovenia), Dinamo Tbilisi (Georgia), Haka (Finland), Hafnarfjordur (Iceland), Shelbourne FC (Ireland), Zrinjski (Bosnia Herzegovina), Skonto (Latvia), Sheriff (Moldova), Kaunas (Lithuania).
The Anfield club were given special dispensation by UEFA to defend their title after they had failed to qualify as one of the first four in the English Premiership. They finished their campaign in fifth place.
The first qualifying round will be played over two legs on 12/13 and 19/20 July with the second qualifying round on 26/27 July and 2/3 August.
In the UEFA Cup, both Birkirkara and Hibernians will be among the unseeded teams.
The seeded teams (all possible opponents) in this first qualifying round are Rapid Bucharest (Romania), Apoel (Cyprus), Domzale (Slovenia), Omonia (Cyprus), Vardar (Macedonia), Siroki Brijeg (Bosnia Herzegovina) and Zepce (Bosnia Herzegovina).
The 25 matches of the first round are to be played over two legs on 14 and 28 July. The winners will progress into the second round where they will be joined by a further 37 sides including former European Champions Cup winners Red Star Belgrade of Serbia & Montenegro.
The next draw for the Champions League and UEFA Cup will then be held on 29 July in Nyon.
Euro Cup
In preparation for these encounters, the three clubs will be taking part in the Euro Cup organised by the MFA at the start of each season.
The three matches are to be held on 4, 6 and 8 July, that is, a week prior to the first legs of the European competitions.
This competition will be staged at the Hibernians Ground. The draws are expected to be made at the MFA headquarters next week.