Today’s UEFA draw determined the pairings in the first round of the Champions League qualifiers, and the Macedonian champion will face KuPS.

The Red and Blacks will host the first leg on 7th or 8th, and the return leg in Kuopio will be played on the 14th or 15th of the same month.

KuPS is an old club, founded in 1923 and has been champion of Finland 8 times, with the last two titles have come in the last two seasons.

Last season, KuPS was eliminated by Kairat in the second qualifying round of the Champions League, then ended up in the Conference League where they made it through the league stage before being knocked out by Lech Poznań.

KuPS has never played against a Macedonian club in its rich European history.

Round 1 pairs:

Sabah (Azerbaijan) – The New Saints (Wales)
Floriana (Malta) – Shamrock Rovers (Ireland)
Flora (Estonia) – Iberia 1999 (Georgia)
Lincoln Red Imps (Gibraltar) – Inter d’Escalades (Andorra)
Tre Fiori (San Marino) – Larne (Northern Ireland)
Ararat-Armenia (Armenia) – Riga (Latvia)
Vardar (Macedonia) – KuPS (Finland)
Kauno Žalgiris (Lithuania) – Drita (Kosovo)
Vitebsk (Belarus) – U Craiova (Romania)
Petrocub (Moldova) – Egnatia (Albania)
Borac (Bosnia and Herzegovina) – Levski (Bulgaria)
Víkingur (Iceland) – Győr (Hungary)
Kairat (Kazakhstan) – Sutjeska (Montenegro)
KÍ (Faroe Islands) – Atert Bissen (Luxembourg)

The draw for the second qualifying round will be held on Thursday.