Sliema Wanderers will host Bulgarian side Litex Lovech this evening at Ta' Qali in a first round first leg tie (kick-off 7.30pm).

The Blues have strengthened their ranks with the arrival of Matthew Bartolo, Ian Azzopardi and Sharlon Pace from Hibernians, Floriana and Valletta respectively. Pace has signed for good after having been on loan last season. Barbara will not be available for today’s clash as he only signed for the club on Tuesday.

On the departures front, the Blues have lost the services of defenders, Mauro Di Lello and Lee Lombardi who has joined Birkirkara.

Coach Ray ‘Zazu’ Farrugia is hoping his side will, at least, provide the strong Litex side with some decent opposition, even if he still cannot make use of Nigerian goalkeeper Murphy Akanji.

The young Henry Bonello will be taking his place between the sticks this evening in what will be his debut match in European club football.

For Sliema, it will be their 16th participation in the UEFA Cup. Last season they were eliminated by Rapid Bucharest on a 6-0 aggregate score.

Litex came to the fore in Bulgaria in the last few years. It was in season 1997/98, immediately after getting back in the Premier League that they broke the reign of the Levski and CSKA, the two major title contenders from Sofia, to win the title.

Litex won the national championship again in the following season and became a major force on the Bulgarian football scene. They acquired many Bulgarian and foreign national team players. They also entered the international scene, and competed in the UEFA Champions League and in the UEFA Cup since then.

Litex is the only Bulgarian club to transfer two players in the English Premiership; in addition, the team has transferred players to major teams in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal.

Today’s match is being controlled by officials from Bosnia Herzegovina. Rusmir Mrkovic will be in control: his assistants are Mujo Tutn and Miroslav Miric while the fourth official will be Novo Panic.