© EuroFootball.com
Today in the Swiss city of Nyon, the draw for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup tournament took place. Two Lithuanian clubs will participate in this tournament - Atlantas and Ekranas, who will face opponents from the British Isles.
The team from Klaipėda will play their first match against Rhyl from Wales, while the current leaders of the A League, the footballers of Panevėžys Ekranas, will meet Cork City from Ireland in the first qualifying round. Interestingly, Žalgiris will play against a team from Northern Ireland in the Intertoto Cup, and Kaunas's possible opponent in the Champions League is Liverpool from England, so Lithuanians only lack a Scottish team to complete the "British set".
Out of the 25 duels taking place on July 14 and 28, the winners will advance to the second qualifying round, where they will face 37 other teams. The draw for the second round will take place on July 29, and after the qualifying matches, the 31 clubs will enter the first UEFA Cup stage.
In the first stage, they will face 49 teams, including the Cup holders CSKA Moscow and 16 teams eliminated from the third qualifying round of the Champions League. The winners of the first round will play in group matches, and the final of the cup will take place in Eindhoven next year.
Pairings of the first stage in the Northern region:
1. "Longford Town" (Ireland) - "Carmarthen Town" (Wales)
2. "Ekranas" (Lithuania) - "Cork City" (Ireland)
3. "Vestmannaeyjar" (Iceland) - "Torshavn" (Faroe Islands)
4. "Allianssi" (Finland) - "Petange" (Luxembourg)
5. "Linfield" (Northern Ireland) - "Ventspils" (Latvia)
6. "Runavik" (Faroe Islands) - "Metalurgs" (Latvia)
7. "Etzella" (Luxembourg) - "Keflavik" (Iceland)
8. "Viking" (Norway) - "Portadown" (Northern Ireland)
9. "TVMK" (Estonia) - "Pallo-47" (Finland)
10. "Rhyl" (Wales) - "Atlantas" (Lithuania)
11. "Esbjerg" (Denmark) - "Flora" (Estonia)
Pairings of the first stage in the South - Mediterranean region:
1. "Ferencvarosi" (Hungary) - "MTZ-RIPO" (Belarus)
2. "Banants" (Armenia) - "Lokomotiv" (Georgia)
3. "BATE" (Belarus) - "Torpedo" (Georgia)
4. "Vaduz" (Liechtenstein) - "Dacia" (Moldova)
5. "Baku" (Azerbaijan) - "Zilina" (Slovakia)
6. "Mainz" (Germany) - "MIKA" (Armenia)
7. "Nistru" (Moldova) - "Lankaran" (Azerbaijan)
Pairings of the first stage in the Central - Eastern region:
1. "Baskimi" (Macedonia) - "Zepce" (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
2. "Birkirkara" (Malta) - "APOEL" (Cyprus)
3. "Sant Julia" (Andorra) - "Rapid" (Romania)
4. "Teuta" (Albania) - "Brijeg" (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
5. "Elbasani" (Albania) - "Vardar" (Macedonia)
6. "Hibernians" (Malta) - "Omonia" (Cyprus)
7. "Domagnano" (San Marino) - "Domzale" (Slovenia)
