Valletta kick off another week of European football

Valletta kick off another week of European football for Maltese clubs with the BOV Pemier League champions eyeing a place in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. The Citizens head into the second leg of their Champions League first qualifying round tie with Luxembourg’s F91 Dudelange this evening (Tuesday) in high spirits after coming back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 in last week’s first leg at the Stade Josy Barthel. New signing Douglas Packer and Jean Borg scored the second-half goals for Valletta who will be looking to make home advantage this evening (Tuesday) when they face Dudelange at the Centenary Stadium with the match kicking off at 20.00. Coach Darren Abdilla must make do without a host of key players as captain Jonathan Caruana and Argentine midfielder Santiago Malano are injured, Montenegrin striker Bojan Kaljevic is recovering from an operation while midfielder Rowen Muscat is suspended. The winner of the Valletta/Dudelange match will progress to a second-round meeting with either Ferencvaros, of Hungary, or Bulgarians Ludogorets. EUROPA LEAGUEIn the Europa League, Hibernians will be looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host Belarusian side FC Shakhtyor Soligorsk in the second leg of their Europa League first qualifying round match at the Centenary Stadium on Thursday (kick-off 20.00). The winner of the Hibernians/Shakhtyor Soligorsk match will set up a meeting with Danish side Esbjerg. Also in the Europa League, Gżira United are away to Hajduk Split on Thursday (20.00) with the Croatians taking a 2-0 lead into the second leg while Balzan travel to Slovenia to meet NK Domzale, also on Thursday. The first leg was a pulsating affair with Balzan losing 4-3. Thursday’s match at Sportni Park kicks off at 20.45. The winner of Gżira/Hajduk Split match will meet either Ventspils, of Latvia, or Albanian side Teuta while the winner of Balzan/Domzale tie will most probably meet Malmö in the next round after the Swedish outfit beat Ballymena United, of Northern Ireland, 7-0 in the first leg.