Having been drawn to face FK Sarajevo from Bosnia and Herzegovina at Cardiff City Stadium in yesterday’s Champions League first qualifying round draw, Connah’s Quay will face a trip to Belarus or Kazakhstan if they progress.
The Cymru Premier champions, making their first appearance in the Champions League, were drawn against the winners of the tie between Dynamo Brest of Belarus and Kazakhstan champions Astana in today’s second qualifying round draw.
Astana reached the group stages of the Champions League in 2015-16, when they finished fourth in their group behind Benfica, Atletico Madrid and Galatasaray… securing four points after drawing with all three sides at home, and earning a draw away to Galatasaray as well.
But first the Nomads take on Bosnian champions FK Sarajevo at Cardiff City Stadium on Wednesday, 19 August, with the winners heading to Kazakhstan or Belarus in the second qualifying round on 25-26 August.
FK Sarajevo, who were seeded in the draw, won the Bosnian title for the fifth time in 2019-20.
In the Europa League, Barry Town United were given a trip to the Faroe Islands in yesterday’s preliminary round draw. The Dragons will take on NSI Runavik in Torshavn on Thursday, 20 August.
In last season’s Europa League preliminary round Barry lost to Northern Ireland’s Cliftonville but coach Gavin Chesterfield hopes they can use that experience in the competition to good effect when they travel to the Faroes in 10 days’ time:
“Last year we were well prepared and had done our homework, but went to Northern Ireland a bit wide-eyed,” he said. “But there’s no doubt in my mind that what happened last year will stand us in good stead this time around.
“This year we’ll go into the game with a bit more experience, especially experience of how to deal with big occasions, and that will be key.
“The fact that it’s a one-legged affair makes things different to our experience last year, but we’ll still aim to represent ourselves and Wales to the best of our ability.
“It will be very similar to the knockout cup format that we’re used to domestically. We have much more experience playing ties with one leg rather than two, so that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned. We’ll go there well-prepared and confident.”
Victory in Torshavn would see the Dragons up against Scotland’s Aberdeen, who finished fourth in the SPL last season behind Celtic, Rangers and Dundee.
The mouth-watering tie would take place at Pittodrie Stadium on Thursday, 27 August.
Both of Wales’ other Europa League entrants went straight into today’s first qualifying round draw, with Bala Town drawn to play Maltese-side Valletta away and Cymru Premier runners-up The New Saints at home to Slovakian side MSK Zilina.
Zilina finished runners-up in the Slovak Super Liga last season and made it all the way to the Champions League group stages in 2010-11, when they faced Chelsea, Marseille and Spartak Moscow.
Fixtures
Champions League
First Qualifying Round
19 August: Connah’s Quay v FK Sarajevo (7pm, Cardiff City Stadium)
Europa League
Preliminary Round
20 August: NSI Runavik v Barry Town United (Torshavn)
First Qualifying Round
27 August: TNS v MSK Zilina (Park Hall)
27 August: Valletta v Bala Town (Centenary Stadium, Ta’Qali)
