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In the UEFA headquarters, the draw revealed that VMFD "Žalgiris" will face Miodlingo "Admira Wacker" in the second round of the Europa League qualifiers. The legendary Lithuanian footballer Arminas Narbekovas once played in this Austrian club.
The first match for the Vilnius team will be played on July 19 at home, with the return leg on July 26 in Austria.
"I am very pleased with the draw. This is perhaps the best opponent we could have gotten from the five options, better than the likes of Netherlands' "Twente", Croatia's "Slaven Belupo", Switzerland's "Servette", or Kazakhstan's "Aktobe" - the winner of the "Torpedo" from Georgia. I think the teams are evenly matched, and after doing a serious analysis of our opponents' game, we can expect to advance to the third round of qualifiers," said "Žalgiris" sports director Mindaugas Nikoličius.
Marijampolė's "Sūduva" and "Šiauliai" will start their Europa League qualifying matches from the first qualifying round.
The draw determined that both teams will have not too distant travels. Marijampolė will travel to Latvia, while Šiauliai will go to Estonia.
"Sūduva's" opponent, Daugavpils "Daugava", finished third in the Latvian league last year.
Šiauliai's opponent, Tallinn's "Levadia", finished second in the Estonian championship last year.
"The trip is not the farthest... The opposing team is young, with only one foreign player - a goalkeeper from Ukraine. All others are mostly local players aged 19-23. But it will definitely not be an easy walk in the park. I will have more to say after someone from our club returns from Estonia. On June 30, the opponents will play their championship matches, and we will definitely watch them," commented Šiauliai's head coach Gediminas Jarmalavičius on the draw results.
Both Marijampolė and Šiauliai will play their first matches at home on July 7, with the away games taking place on July 12.
