The draw of the first and second qualifying round of the Europa League was also held yesterday, with Malta’s two representatives, Birkirkara (runners-up) and Floriana (Trophy winners) drawing opponents from Albania and Cyprus respectively.
Birkirkara, who were one of the seeded five teams in Group 5 were paired against KS Vllaznia of Albania.
Other opponents who could have been drawn against the Malta side were Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia, FK Zeta of Montenegro, and FC Banants and FC Lusitans of Andorra.
Birkirkara’s opponents from the city of Shkoder, are the second oldest club in ALbania, founded in 1919, and one of the country’s most supported club.
They play in the Loro Borici Stadium, named after one of the greatest Albanian footballers of all time.
Last season, Vllaznia placed third in the Albanian Superliga, 14 points behind chanpions Skenderbeu Korce.
Vllaznia played against Maltese opponents before. In 1987/88 they met Sliema Wanderers in the then Cup Winners Cup and beat them 2-0 at home and 4-0 at Ta’ Qali.
Birkirkara have previously played Albanian opposition in the likes of Partizan Tirana in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup in 2004. Birkirkara lost 4-5 on aggregate.
Should Birkirkara reach the second round, they will face tough opponents FC Thun from Switzerland who played in the Group stages of the UEFA Champions League in 2005, it also being the smallest club ever to enter the competition.
Floriana, as Trophy winners go automatically into the second qualifying round where they were pitted against AEK Larnaca from Cyprus. They may be a new club, founded in 1994 after the merger between EPA LArnaca nad Pezoporikos, but their manager, coach and some players are no new faces to Maltese football.
In fact, AEK Larnaca’s coach is the former Dutch Ton Caanen and the manager is Jordi Cruyff. Luke Dimech and Njongo Priso are in their squad and will be making a return to Maltese football.
Their captain is Dutch defender Kevin Hofland and other Dutch players in their squad are midfielders Edwin Linssen and Gregor van Dijk.
Since their merger, Larnaca have only won one honour - the Cyrus Cup in 2004 but reached the final on two other occasions.
Last season they finished fourth in the Cyprus League.