Valletta’s potential opponents in 3rd round; Dinamo Zagreb or Saburtalo
The winner of the clash Valletta/Ferencváros was drawn with the winner of the clash between Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb and Saburtalo of Georgia in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.
Valletta qualified for the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League after eliminating F91 Dudelange thanks to a 2-2 draw in Luxembourg and a 11 draw at the Centenary Stadium to qualify on the away goals rule.
Tomorrow, the citizens will be playing the first leg against Ferencvaros in Hungary. The return leg in Malta is scheduled for next Tuesday.
Dinamo Zagreb enter the competition in the second qualifying round while Saburtalo eliminated Sheriff of Moldova with a 4-3 aggregate score in the first qualifying round.
Ajax to play PAOK of Greece
Last season’s semifinalist Ajax will start its Champions League campaign against unbeaten Greek title winner PAOK Thessaloniki in the third qualifying round, after the draw was made yesterday.
Four-time European champion Ajax began in the second preliminary round last July and was one minute from the final before being eliminated by Tottenham’s stoppage-time winning goal in May.
As the Dutch league winner, Ajax now starts one qualifying round later – on Aug. 6 or 7, with the first leg in Greece – needing to beat two opponents instead of three to join the elite group stage.
But it got the toughest possible opposition. Ajax was the highestranked seeded team and PAOK was highest ranked in the pot of unseeded teams after being the only unbeaten league winner in Europe last season. Both are in the draw section just for national champions.
Also, Dynamo Kiev will face Club Brugge, and Austria’s LASK will take on either PSV Eindhoven, the 1988 European champion, or Basel.
UEFA had to intervene to keep the Russian and Ukraine teams apart and uphold a rule imposed in 2014 across all its competitions for security reasons.
Dynamo Kiev was drawn against Krasnodar, then shifted down to the next fixture slot as the away team. UEFA has separated clubs from the two countries since Russia annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine. Porto was drawn next and paired with Krasnodar.
First-leg games are played Aug. 6-7, and return games on Aug. 13.
The second qualifying round has yet to be played. It begins today and will be completed on July 31.
Dutch league winners and runners-up have to enter the qualifying rounds because the country has slipped in UEFA’s rankings. Each nation is graded by its clubs’ results in European club competitions in a rolling five-year assessment.
However, Ajax’s acclaimed run to the semifinals means the Dutch title winner this season is almost certain to go directly into the Champions League group stage next year.
Ajax edged PAOK 3-2 on aggregate when the teams met in the third qualifying round three years ago.
Since then, PAOK won its first Greek title in 34 years to continue a revival during the ownership of Russian-Greek businessman Ivan Savvidis.
The draws League Path
First Leg Aug. 6-7 Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey) vs. Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) or Olympiakos (Greece)
Krasnodar (Russia) vs. Porto (Portugal) Club Brugge (Belgium) vs. Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine)
PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands) or Basel (Switzerland) vs. LASK (Austria) Second Leg Aug. 13 Olympiakos (Greece) or Viktoria Plzen (Czech Republic) vs. Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey)
Porto (Portugal) vs. Krasnodar (Russia) Dynamo Kiev (Ukraine) vs. Club Brugge (Belgium)
LASK (Austria) vs. Basel (Switzerland) or PSV Eindhoven (Netherlands)
Champions Path
First Leg Aug. 6-7 CFR Cluj (Romania) or Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel) vs Celtic (Scotland) or Nomme Kalju (Estonia)
Sutjeska (Montenegro) or APOEL (Cyprus) vs. Dundalk (Ireland) or Qarabag (Azerbaijan)
PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece) vs. Ajax (Netherlands)
Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) or Saburtalo (Georgia) vs. Ferencvaros (Hungary) or Valletta (Malta)
Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) or HJK Helsinki (Finland) vs. Copenhagen (Denmark) or The New Saints (Wales) Maribor (Slovenia) or AIK (Sweden) vs. BATE Borisov (Belarus) or Rosenborg (Norway) Second Leg Aug. 13 Celtic (Scotland) or Nomme Kalju (Estonia) vs. CFR Cluj (Romania) or Maccabi Tel-Aviv (Israel)
Dundalk (Ireland) or Qarabag (Azerbaijan) vs. Sutjeska (Montenegro) or APOEL (Cyprus)
Ajax (Netherlands) vs. PAOK Thessaloniki (Greece)
Ferencvaros (Hungary) or Valletta (Malta) vs. Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia) or Saburtalo (Georgia)
Copenhagen (Denmark) or The New Saints (Wales) vs. Red Star Belgrade (Serbia) or HJK Helsinki (Finland)
BATE Borisov (Belarus) or Rosenborg (Norway) vs. Maribor (Slovenia) or AIK (Sweden).