Who do Blues, Larne and Swifts face in Europe?
Lithuania awaits for Linfield
Linfield have only had a week to prepare for their Conference League game against Lithuanian side Zalgiris.They will be looking to bounce back from the Shelbourne defeat, but it will be a difficult game against a side who have some pedigree in Europe.Zalgiris became the first Lithuanian club to qualify for the group stages of a European club competition when they reached the Conference League group stage in 2022.They finished bottom of their group but managed five points including a win from their six games. Last season's A Lyga champions have struggled this campaign, they currently sit fifth in their domestic league with 20 games played.The first leg is away in Vilnius and kicks off at 17:00 BST on Thursday, with the second leg at Windsor Park next Thursday.If David Healy's side manage to win over the two legs, the Blues will face Vikingur from the Faroe Islands in the next round.
Larne host Prishtina at Ballymena Showgrounds
Larne will still be on a high from their penalty shootout win against Auda and will be determined to build on that victory as they plot a route back to European league stage football after last year's exploits.Nathan Rooney's side welcome FC Prishtina to the Ballymena Showgrounds for the first leg which kicks off at 20:00 BST on Thursday.The second leg will take place next Thursday in Pristina and the side that progressed will face the winner of the tie involving Portuguese side CD Santa Clara and Croatian outfit NK Varazdin.FC Prishtina are the most successful club in Kosovo, having won 11 Kosovan Superleague titles, nine Kosovar Cups and 11 Kosovar Supercups.They are back in European competition for the first time since the 2021/22 campaign after winning the Kosovar Cup final in May.The Kosovan side began in the Europa League but lost 5-2 on aggregate against Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol and dropped down the Conference League.
Swifts travel to Liechtenstein
Dungannon Swifts will be raring to go for their first European tie in 18 years as they travel to Liechtenstein to take on FC Vaduz on Thursday in the first leg of their tie which kicks off at 18:30 BST.The Irish Cup winners have twice played in Europe before, when they lost in the 2006 Intertoto Cup to Keflavik IF in the first round and in qualifying for the 2007-08 Uefa Cup, when they were defeated by Lithuanian side FK Suduva.Whilst FC Vaduz are from Liechtenstein, they curiously play in Switzerland, the second tier Challenge League to be exact, after relegation from the Swiss Super League in 2021.They won the Liechtensteiner Cup final against Balzers to reach the second round of Conference League qualifying. Vaduz made history in 2022 as by beating Rapid Wien they qualified for the group stages of the Conference League, becoming the first ever club from Liechtenstein to reach the group stages of a European club competition.They finished bottom of a tough group that included AZ Alkmaar, Apollon Limassol and Dnipro, picking up two points from their six games.There is a potential big prize at stake for the winners of this tie as they could face Dutch giants AZ Alkmaar or Finnish side Ilves in the third round.If Irish Premiership clubs can progress past this round of qualifying then they are potentially four matches away from replicating Larne's historic run to the League stage of the Conference League last season.
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