Mixed cast lines up for second qualifying round
Monday, July 11, 2011
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The 1966 and 1979 runners-up, ten debutants and plenty of recent group stage experience will be among the notable elements when the second qualifying rounds kicks off on Tuesday.
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For ten teams this year's second qualifying round will be their first taste of the UEFA Champions League, yet there will be no shortage of experience when the ties kick off on Tuesday.
European Champion Clubs' Cup runners-up in 1966, FK Partizan can lay claim to have participated in the competition proper most recently, even if they did finish without a point in Group H last season. The Serbian titleholders begin their latest campaign against their counterparts from Former Yugoslav of Republic Macedonia, FK Skendija 79.
Skendija face perhaps the toughest proposition among the ten newcomers, though Iceland's Breidablik are pitted against a Rosenborg BK side that have taken part in the group stage 11 times, albeit not since 2007/08. Elsewhere, two debutants meet – FC Zestafoni from Georgia host FC Dacia Chisinau, who ended FC Sheriff's ten-year dominance in Moldova last season.
Fellow apprentices, Albania's KS Skënderbeu and FK Borac Banja Luka from Bosnia and Herzegovina, begin life in Europe's premier club tournament against 2009/10 group stage contenders APOEL FC and Maccabi Haifa FC. The four other novices – FC Tobol Kostanay, Videoton FC, FC Viktoria Plzeň and Bangor City FC – take the plunge against ŠK Slovan Bratislava, SK Sturm Graz, FC Pyunik and HJK Helsinki respectively.
One of the biggest draws at this stage are Swedish champions Malmö FF, the 1979 European Champion Clubs Cup runners-up who begin their latest European adventure against HB Tórshavn of the Faroe Islands.
Two teams enter the second qualifying round on the back of victories in the first phase, though F91 Dudelange will have their work cut out against 1999/2000 group stage entrants NK Maribor, from Slovenia. Malta's Valletta FC also negotiated the initial hurdle and now take on Lithuania's finest, FK Ekranas.
