Rabotnichki, Shkendija, Renova learn opponents

The draw showing the Macedonian teamsIn the Europa League draw, the three Macedonian participants learned their opposition for the first qualifying round.

From the three Macedonian clubs in the Europa League draw, only Rabotnichki was seeded, while Shkendija and Renova were unseeded.

Below are the five potential opponents that each of the clubs could have faced:

Potential opponents heading into the draw

Rabotnichki clearly benefited from being seeded. The only tricky side from their potential rivals was Kairat. Teams in Kazakhstan have good budgets, so that was the lone team to avoid. That is exactly what happened as Rabotnichki was paired with Flora, a club from Estonia. Back in the 2011-12 season, Rabotnichki made easy work of Estonian opposition in the Europa League, beating Narva Trans 7:1 on aggregate. They will be hoping to do the same this time as well.

Shkendija wanted to avoid Rosenborg and Aberdeen, but they were not as fortunate. They were drawn to meet Aberdeen, the 2nd place finisher in the Scottish league last season. Aberdeen is best known for being the club that Sir Alex Ferguson managed before he then took over at Manchester United.

Finally, Renova could have potentially faced West Ham United in the first qualifying round, but the draw pitted them against Dacia, a team from Moldova. That is clearly a much more manageable opponent as both teams will fancy their chances of advancing to the next round.

If Rabotnichki, Shkendija and Renova reach the second qualifying round of the competition, they would meet the following teams (that draw was also held today) below:

2nd qualifying round schedule

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