On Tuesday at the UEFA Headquarters in Nyon UEFA Champions League’s first qualifying draw took place. It was a historic moment for Valmiera FC—the maiden draw of the European top flight for the Latvian club that won the 2022 Virsliga tournament.
Prior to the draw, UEFA announced the potential opponents for our club: Qarabag FK (Azerbaijan), SK Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia), HJK Helsinki (Finland), FC Flora Tallinn (Estonia), and NK Olimpija Ljubljana (Slovenia).
All really competitive and strong opponents but as the draw began it was quickly decided that in the first round, we would have to play against Olimpija – the champions of Slovenia. The first game will be played away on either the 11th or 12th of July while the second leg will be played at home on the 18th or 19th of July.
A day later two more draws were set to take place, one that would name our potential opponents in the second round of the Champions League qualifier. But in case of misfortune, also our opponent in the second round of the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The first draw decided that our Champions League second-round opponents could be either Balkani from Kosovo or PFC Ludogorets 1945 from Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, the UEFA Europa Conference League draw for the second round handed us the potential to meet with Tre Penne from San Marino or Breidablik from Iceland.
As for the first qualifying round dates, time, and venue – all will be announced in due time when terms are agreed upon.
