Flora land familiar opponent for Estonian fans, Riga draw Ararat-Armenia and Kauno Žalgiris get Drita

The champions of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have learned their opponents for the first qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, with Riga FC set to face Armenian champions Ararat-Armenia, FC Flora drawn against Georgian champions Iberia 1999 and FK Kauno Žalgiris beginning their debut Champions League campaign against Kosovo champions FC Drita.

Earlier in the day UEFA divided all participating clubs into smaller pre-draw groups, reducing the number of possible opponents for each team. Both Riga FC and Flora avoided arguably the strongest unseeded side in their section, Valdas Dambrauskas’ Azerbaijani champions Sabah.

The first Baltic club drawn was Estonian champions FC Flora, who were paired with familiar opposition in Iberia 1999. The Georgian champions were eliminated by FCI Levadia in last season’s UEFA Conference League qualifiers, losing 2-3 on aggregate after extra time.

Iberia are three-time Georgian champions and currently sit top of the Erovnuli Liga table midway through the domestic season, holding a two-point advantage over second-placed Rustavi.

Meanwhile, Latvian champions Riga FC return to Champions League qualifying after several years away and will take on three-time Armenian champions Ararat-Armenia. The Yerevan-based club won the Armenian Premier League title for the first time since the 2019/20 season.

Last season Ararat-Armenia reached the third qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League before suffering a 1-6 aggregate defeat to Sparta Prague. The Czech giants would later also end Riga FC’s European campaign in the Conference League play-off round.

Lithuanian champions FK Kauno Žalgiris, who will make their Champions League debut this summer, avoided both Kairat Almaty and Romanian champions Universitatea Craiova in the draw. Instead, they were paired with Kosovo champions FC Drita.

Drita have won five Kosovan league titles and enjoyed the most successful European campaign in club history last season. After progressing through the champions path, they reached the UEFA Conference League league phase for the first time, collecting eight points from six matches before being eliminated in the knockout round play-offs by Slovenian side Celje, featuring Lithuanian internationals Armandas Kučys and Artemijus Tutyškinas.

The first qualifying round ties will be played on 8-9 July and 15-16 July. The winners will advance to the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, while the losing sides will drop into the second qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League and continue their European campaigns.

The draws for the second qualifying rounds of both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Conference League will take place tomorrow.