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The multiple Lithuanian champion Panevėžys "Ekranas" will compete in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against the club "FH Hafnarfjardar" from Iceland. This was revealed on Monday in Nyon (Switzerland) when the draw was made, dividing the 38 Old Continent teams participating in the first stage into pairs. The strongest team of the previous season in Iceland, having won the national championship six times, was founded in 1929. "FH Hafnarfjardar" relies on local footballers and has only two foreigners from England. This season, after almost all clubs played eight rounds, the future rivals of "Ekranas" are in third place with 16 points. Besides the Icelanders, at this stage Panevėžys could have faced "New Saints" from Wales, "Sligo Rovers" from Ireland, "Cliftonville" from Northern Ireland, "Daugava" from Latvia and "Nomme Kalju" from Estonia. The first leg matches of the second stage are scheduled for July 16-17, with the return legs a week later. In order to advance to the group stage of the Champions League, "Ekranas" will need to go through this and the third qualifying rounds, as well as the final barrier - the knockout matches. Last year "Ekranas" defeated the Irish club "Shamrock Rovers", but in the third round they were no match for the Belgian champions Brussels "Anderlecht", losing with an aggregate score of 0-11. All the pairs: First qualifying round (July 2-3 and 9-10): "FC Shirak" (Armenia) - "SP Tre Penne" (San Marino) "FC Lusitans" (Andorra) - "EB/Streymur" (Faroe Islands) Second qualifying round (July 16-17 and 23-24): "Neftçi PFK" (Azerbaijan) - "KS Skënderbeu" (Albania) "FC Steaua București" (Romania) - "FK Vardar" (Macedonia) "FC Viktoria Plzeň" (Czech Republic) - "FK Željezničar" (Bosnia and Herzegovina) "FC Sheriff" (Moldova) - "FK Sutjeska" (Montenegro) "Birkirkara FC" (Malta) - "NK Maribor" (Slovenia) "Sligo Rovers FC" (Ireland) - "Molde FK" (Norway) "IF Elfsborg" (Sweden) - "FC Daugava Daugavpils" (Latvia) "HJK Helsinki" (Finland) - "JK Nõmme Kalju" (Estonia) "FK Ekranas" (Lithuania) - "FH Hafnarfjördur" (Iceland) "The New Saints FC" (Wales) - "Legia Warszawa" (Poland) "Celtic FC" (Scotland) - "Cliftonville FC" (Northern Ireland) "GNK Dinamo Zagreb" (Croatia) - CS Fola Esch (Luxembourg) "Győri ETO FC" (Hungary) - "Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC" (Israel) "FC BATE Borisov" (Belarus) - "FC Shakhter Karagandy" (Kazakhstan) "FC Shirak" (Armenia)/"SP Tre Penne" (San Marino) - "FK Partizan" (Serbia) "ŠK Slovan Bratislava" (Slovakia) - "PFC Ludogorets Razgrad" (Bulgaria) "FC Dinamo Tbilisi" (Georgia) - "FC Lusitans" (Andorra)/"EB/Streymur" (Faroe Islands)
