Hamrun Spartans will be facing FC Ballkani of Kosovo in the first leg of the UEFA Conference League second qualifying round at the Zahir Pajaziti Stadium in Podujevo on Tuesday, kick-off at 18:00.
Both teams were eliminated from the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League last week. The Spartans had lost 0-1 to Lincoln Red Imps at the Centenary Stadium in the first leg but forced extra-time after winning 1-0 in Gibraltar. However Lincoln Red Imps emerged as winners in the penalty shoot-out.
FC Ballkani, on the other hand, had defeated UE Santa Coloma 2-1 in the first leg away from home but after having a player sent off, they ended losing 1-2 at home with the Andorran champions winning on penalties.
Hamrun hope to make up for this disappointment, which included having two goals disallowed by the referee, with a good result in Kosovo which leaves open wide the chance of qualifying for the next stage but this will be no easy task considering the results obtained by their opponents in the past two years.
FC Ballkani are based in Suhareka, Kosovo. The club, which was founded in 1947 as Rinia, made history in 2022 by qualifying for the group stages of the UEFA Europa Conference League; becoming the first ever side from Kosovo to reach the group stages of a UEFA club competition.
They won the Kosovar Superliga three times in the last three years, winning the double last season to also claim the Super Cup.
This is their third participation in European football. In 2022, they were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by Zalgiris Vilnius but then they eliminated La Fiorita, KI Klaksvik and Shkupi to reach the group stage of the UEFA Europa Conference League and last year, they were eliminated by Ludogorets Razgrad in the UEFA Champions League but then eliminated Larne, Lincoln Red Imps and BATE Borisov in the UEFA Europa Conference League to make it to the group stage as well.
Meanwhile Hamrun Spartans will be hosting Ballkani at the Tony Bezzina Stadium on July 30, kick-off at 20:00. The team which qualifies from this stage will be facing Larne FC of Northern Ireland in the third qualifying round.
