UEFA Champions League

Macedonian clubs learned opponents in UEFA competitions

UEFA Champions LeagueVardar has learned their opponent in the Champions League qualification, while Horizont Turnovo, Metalurg and Teteks found out their opponents in UEFA Europa League.

Macedonian champion Vardar will have a tough task in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League as they were drawn to face Romanian champions Steaua Bucureşti. Prior to the draw, Vardar was placed in a tough group of possible opponents and while it might be said that they avoided Viktoria Plzeň, they surely got another ambitious team and will have a tough task in front of them.

The first match will be played on the 16th or 17th of July in Bucharest, while the second leg will be played a week later in Skopje.

In the UEFA Europa League, the Macedonian teams got slightly better opponents and will have better chances to advance. Runner-up Metalurg will once again face Qarabağ from Azerbaijan, a team that also finished second in their domestic championship. In 2010/11, Metalurg was eliminated by the same team with an aggregate score of 5:2 in the Europa League qualifications.

Third placed Horizont Turnovo got last year’s third placed team from Lithuania, Sūduva. While this may seem as a good opportunity for the Macedonian debutant, the championship in Lithuania is currently in progress and that can be considered as somewhat of an advantage for the Lithuanian side. 

Cup winner Teteks is also facing a familiar name to Macedonian football in Armenian side Pyunik. Macedonian football fans surely remember the reason why Pobeda faced an 8 year suspension by UEFA after their match with the Armenian team. Just like Teteks, Pyunik also reached the Europa League qualifications by winning their domestic cup.

The first legs of these matches are scheduled for the 4th of July, while the return legs a week later.

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