Riga, August 9, LETA. The Latvian football champion “Riga” will meet with the Israeli champion “Maccabi” in Tel Aviv in the first round of the UEFA Champions League qualifying tournament, it was determined in a lottery on Sunday.
Rigans will have to play the game for guests.
“Riga” also had the opportunity to receive the Azerbaijani team Agdam “Qarabag”, the Kazakh club “Astana” or Tbilisi “Dinamo”.
The first round of the qualifying tournament is scheduled for August 18 and 19. In case the teams play in the regular time, extra time will be spent, but later, if necessary, also “pendulums”.
The choice of the second qualification round is expected on Monday.
The Tel Aviv team is the most titled football team in Israel. It has been crowned national champion 24 times, as well as won the Israeli Cup 23 times, as well as celebrated five times in the league cup.
Maccabi is just one of three Israeli teams that have ever been able to reach the UEFA Champions League group tournament. The last time we managed to achieve this was in the 2015/16 season, when a silver prize was won in the local championship.
“Riga” made its debut in the UEFA Champions League qualifying tournament last year. In the first round we had to compete with the Irish champion “Dundalk”. Both teams failed to score in two games in regular time, so “Riga” failed in the “pendulum” in the debut season.
After losing in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round, the people of Riga continued the Eurocup season in the UEFA Europa League, where they managed to reach the third qualifying round.
Last year, for the first time in one season, “Riga” won both the Latvian Premier League and the Latvian Cup. Last season, the unit was again crowned Latvian champion, but this season, after 13 rounds of games, “Riga” is the local tournament leader.
To enter the UEFA Champions League group tournament, teams must pass a total of four qualifying rounds.
