Four Maltese football clubs were involved in the early stages of European competition during the past few weeks.

While champions Valletta cruised to the second preliminary round of the Champions League with an easy aggregate over Andorran newcomers Lusitans, Floriana were humiliated in the Europa League by Swedish club Elfsborg, conceding a dozen goals over two matches.

The other two clubs, Birkirkara and Hibernians, were also eliminated from this latter competition, but both clubs gave their all, with the Stripes out on the away goals rule after obtaining two draws while the Paolites at least were not beaten in the home ground.

It was expected that Valletta would have had the better of their Andorran counterparts. And the 8-0 result obtained on home soil in the first leg made the second game a formality. The difficult part for the Maltese champions comes as from next week when they meet much stronger opponents, Partizan Belgrade, whose ambition is to make it to the group stages of the competition.

Birkirkara were unlucky to be eliminated without losing any of the two games. But the 2-2 draw at home almost made it imperative for the Stripes to win in Skopje, as a draw with more goals is a rarity in football. They did not manage, but Birkirkara leave the competition with their heads held high.

The same can be said for Hibernians, who practically lost the contest in the second half of the first leg, when they conceded three goals after they ended up in 10 men. It was a difficult task to turn the tables in the second leg, but Hibs tried their best to at least win the game. The 4-4 draw is a good result anyway.

Floriana had a tough draw, but much more was expected from the Greens. That they lost 8-0 – the same result scored, this time in their favour, by Valletta – will give Citizens’ supporters a good reason to deride their arch-rivals when the two clubs meet in local competitions.

That Floriana then lost the second game with a four-goal margin in Malta is, again, a humiliating defeat. It is ridiculous to blame the heat – as some did – for such a result. The temperature was high for the Swedish team too and, if anything, they should have suffered the conditions more given that it is never so hot in Scandinavia.