Valletta net Slovakia's Artmedia Petrzalska

The draws of the preliminary rounds of the 2007/08 UEFA club competitions were held in Nyon yesterday.

Malta champions Valletta were handed a tough task in their bid to overcome the first hurdle in the Champions League as they were paired with Artmedia Petrzalska, of Slovakia.

Turkey's Fenerbahce, who reached the quarter-finals of the competition last season, will start their campaign in the second qualifying round against Hungary's MTK Budapest while Scottish giants Rangers will face the winners of the tie between Andorran champions Santa Coloma and Lithuania's Kaunas.

The Citizens were hoping to net a favourable draw to boost their aspirations of progressing in Europe. However, their ranking among the unseeded teams gave them little chance of being drawn against modest opponents.

Valletta FC president Victor Sciriha, in Switzerland to follow the draw, told The Times that given the strength of Artmedia it is crucial for the Malta champions to secure a positive result in the opening leg at home, scheduled for July 16.

"This was a tough draw for us," Sciriha commented.

"Artmedia are a very strong team and boast a better record in these competitions. We think this will be a very difficult task for us. We're not giving up hope, however. Certainly, our chances rest on a satisfactory outing in the opening leg."

Valletta officials are looking to finalise the squad of players by the end of the week. Sciriha said that in the coming days they will choose their foreign line-up from the six trialists shortlisted by coach Paul Zammit.

For the Citizens this will be their first appearance in Europe since their participation in the Intertoto Cup in 2005 when they were ousted by Montenegro's Buducnost Podgorica 7-2 on aggregate. The last time Valletta played in the Champions League was in 2001 when they faced Haka, of Finland, and lost 5-0 over the two legs.

The winners of the Valletta-Artmedia tie will face either Tampere United, of Finland, or Buducnost Podgorica.

Although not among the so-called traditional teams at home, Artmedia have established a name for themselves these past few years, particularly following their exploits in the 2005-06 Champions League.

Starting from the first qualifying round, the Bratislava-based team defied the odds to book a place in the group stages after ousting Kairat Almaty, of Kazakhstan, Scottish giants Celtic (5-0 in Slovakia) and Serbia's Partizan Belgrade. They were only the second Slovak team to achieve this feat following Kosice in 1997-98.

Artmedia went on to earn a place in the Last 32 of the 2005-06 UEFA Cup after placing third in a Champions League group that included more glamorous teams such as Inter, Rangers and Porto. Their most remarkable result was a 3-2 win at Porto.

Last season, Artmedia reached the first round proper of the UEFA Cup after ousting Zimbru Chisinau, of Moldova, and Armenia's FC Mika. However, they failed to make it to the second round when they were ousted by Greek side Panathinaikos 5-1 on aggregate.

In 2007-08 Artmedia strolled to a convincing league triumph as they topped the standings with 84 points, nine ahead of second-placed MSK Zilina. Then, they went on to complete a double after beating Spartak Trnava 1-0 in the cup final.

Vladimir Weiss was the man in charge of Artmedia's rise to stardom. Last month, he was approached by the Slovak FA and appointed national team coach.

Artmedia start their title defence on July 19. They have yet to announce a successor to Weiss. Slovakia FA press officer Ivan Ceredejev yesterday told The Times that Weiss will be Artmedia coach for the time being.

"I can confirm that national coach Vladimir Weiss will be leading Artmedia Petrzalska against Valletta," Ceredejev said.

"During our negotiations it was agreed that Weiss will be given permission to lead the team in the opening rounds of the Champions League until the club names a successor."