Horizont Turnovo, Metalurg and Shkendija have learned their opponents in the first qualifying round of UEFA Europa League.
Horizont Turnovo will face Georgian side Chikhura Sachkhere, Metalurg will play against UE Santa Coloma from Andorra and Shkendija will be playing against Zimbru Chisinau from Moldova.
Turnovo's opponent Chikhura have ended on the 4th position last year and also played in the Georgian cup final where they have been defeated by champions Dinamo Tbilisi. Their team last season was solely consisted of domestic players. They play their home matches in Sachkhere, but for Europa League they will be playing in Tbilisi, 130 kms from their home town. In last season's UEFA EL, Chikhura have eliminated Vaduz in the 1st qualifying round thanks to the away goals rule and lost to Thun in the second round.
Metalurg seemed to have gotten fairly easy task, although judging by their outing in the past two years, the Skopje side will still need new names in the team. UE Santa Coloma are frequent participants of UEFA Europa League but in the past 4 seasons they have always been eliminated in the first round and lost all the matches they played.
Shkendija will face Moldovan side Zimbru. Zimbru have finished last season on the 4th place in Moldova, just as Shkendija in Macedonia, but also lifted the Moldovan Cup after beating Sheriff in the final. Their squad is also mainly consisted of Moldovan players. The first legs will be played on 3rd of July, while the return legs will be played on 10th of July. Horizont Turnovo and Shkendija are hosts in the first legs, while Metalurg will travel to Andorra.
