Partizan for Shkendija, Trans Narva for Rabotnicki, Glentoran for Renova and Lokomotiv Sofia for Metalurg are the European opponents that Macedonian teams will face this summer in the qualification round of both Champions League and Europa League.
Today in UEFA’s capital Nyon took place the draw for the first qualifying rounds of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. Four Macedonian clubs got their opponents: Shkendija in the champions League, while Metalurg, Renova and Rabotnicki in the Europa League.
Shkendija did not have the best luck as it was drawn against one of the best teams in the Balkan, Serbian champion Partizan from Belgrade. The Macedonian champion was placed in the Group 2 of the draw where besides Partizan could have been paired with Dinamo Zagreb (Croatia), Sturm Graz (Austria), Viktoria Plzeň (Czech), Ekranas (Lithuania) and Zestafoni (Georgia). The last two would have been a perfect draw, but Partizan will probably attract big publicity and probably a full stadium.
12/13 July: Partizan – Shkendija
19/20 July: Shkendija – Partizan
Rabotnicki got Estonian side Trans Narva, while Renova got Glentoran from Northern Ireland. Renova and Rabotnicki were both seeded in the first qualifying round of the Europa League. Renova was in Group 2 where possible opponents were Vestmannaeyjar (Iceland), Runavík (Faroe Islands), Neath (Wales) and Käerjéng 97 (Luxembourg), while Rabotnicki was in the Group 3 where possible opponents were Banga (Lithuania), Shakhter Karagandy (Kazakhstan), Tre Penne (San Marino) and Santa Coloma (Andorra).
30 June: Rabotnicki – Trans Narva *
7 July: Trans Narva – Rabotnicki
30 June: Renova – Glentoran *
7 July: Glentoran – Renova
* due to the fact that both teams play their European games at the same stadium, the order of home/away legs will be changed.
Metalurg as winner of the Macedonian Cup starts directly from the second qualifying round where in the draw enetered among the unseeded teams and was drawn against Bulgarian side Lokomotiv Sofia. If Rabotnicki eliminates Trans Narva, in the second round will face Juvenes/Dogana, the winner of the Cup in San Marino which is a great draw and a chance for Rabotnicki to reach the third round once again. If Renova proceeds will have to face Ukrainian team Vorskla. Rabotnicki/Trans Narva were seeded due to Rabotnicki’s strong coefficient, while Renova/Glentoran were among the unseeded teams.
14 July: Metalurg – Lokomotiv Sofia *
21 July: Lokomotiv Sofia – Metalurg
14 July: Juvenes/Dogana – Rabotnicki
21 July: Rabotnicki – Juvenes/Dogana
14 July: Renova – Vorskla *
21 July: Vorskla – Renova
* due to the fact that both teams play their European games at the same stadium, probably one of them will play two days earlier.