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Today, on Tuesday, the 2005 Lithuanian champions Panevėžio "Ekras" football players start their fights in Europe, playing the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League against the champions of Albania, "KF Elbasani". "KF Elbasani" - Panevėžio "Ekras" Match start: 18:30 Lithuanian time The club from Elbasan is a kind of sensation in Albania - just two years ago they finished 8th in the country's championship and almost dropped to a lower league, last year they won silver in the championship, and last season they became champions of Albania with an 11-point lead over their closest competitors. Both teams have strengthened before the upcoming match, but in different ways. Veteran forward 34-year-old Vaidotas Šlekys joined "Ekras". Meanwhile, "Elbasani" strengthened with 29-year-old forward Daniel Xhafaj, who played in Switzerland last season at the "Xamax" club, one of the most famous Macedonian footballers of the last decade, 32-year-old Artim Shaqiri, who played more than 60 games in the national team, and the top scorer of the 2004-2005 season Albanian championship, 25-year-old Dorianu Bylykbashi, who has previously played for "Elbasani". Undoubtedly the biggest boost for the Albanian champions should be the acquisition of defender Artim Shaqiri. This player has played for "Halmstads" (Sweden), "Malatyaspor" (Turkey), Skopje's "Vardar" (Macedonia), Sofia's CSKA (Bulgaria), and "West Brom" (England) clubs during his career, and he is also the captain of the Macedonian national team. However, this player is unlikely to appear in the first match. "Ekras" has been struggling in the Lithuanian championship lately: at the end of June in Šiauliai they suffered a crushing defeat of 4-1, later they beat the league leader "Kaunas" 0-1, though "Kaunas" no longer trained so intensively as the team's game was changed by coach Eduardas Malofejevas, and in the last match on Friday they avoided a humiliating defeat at home to Kėdainiai's "Nevėžis" only in the last minute - the match ended 1-1. In Lithuania, the "A League" championship is already halfway through, while Albanian clubs are still preparing for the upcoming season. "KF Elbasani" prepared for the season in neighboring Macedonia, where a sixteen-day training camp was held and three friendly matches were played. During these matches, the Albanian champions demonstrated good form and beat the two strongest Albanian teams, apart from themselves - they even beat the multiple champions of Albania, "SK Tirana", 3-1, and in the last friendly match, they beat last season's bronze medalists of Tirana "Dinamo" football players 1-0. Against the hosts Skopje's "Vardar", Albanians played a 2-2 draw. The opponents' attacking line looks particularly dangerous: "Elbasani" who plan to play with attacking midfielder (Bylykbashi) and two forwards (Bejzade and Xhafaj) could cause many problems for Lithuanian defenders. It is worth mentioning that Bejzade is the top scorer of recent seasons in "Elbasani", scoring 15 goals each in the last two seasons. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian national team defender Mantas Savėnas will undoubtedly attract the most attention in the ranks of "Ekras". The Albanian champions even allow you to download several M. Savėnas playing videos on their website, and it did not go unnoticed that the Lithuanian recently took part in a trial with "Moskva". Lithuanian bookmakers consider the Albanian club as their favorite - the ratio of 2 to 1 is offered for their victory, while the chances of the "Ekras" are assessed as twice as poor, with a ratio of 4 to 1. The chances of advancing to the next round are considered equal, but for now, the Panevėžys team is considered a slight favorite. The return match will be played on July 18 in Panevėžys. Probable lineups of the teams: "Elbasani" (4-3-1-2): Kotorri; Abraham, Vrapi, Dede, Brajha; Qorri, Osja, Nora; Bylykbashi; Bejzade, Xhafaj; "Ekranas" (4-4-2): Skrupskis; Skroblas, Banevičius, Klimavičius, Paulauskas; Petrauskas, Savėnas, Kučys, Tomkevičius; Šlekys, Lukšys;
