Birkirkara target away goal in Andorra

Birkirkara start their 2010 Champions League adventure today (7 p.m. Malta time) when they face Andorra's Santa Coloma in the first qualifying round, first leg at the Estadi Comunal in La Vella.

Facing the champions of Andorra, one of the smallest countries in Europe, inevitably raised expectations in the Stripes' clan to negotiate the first hurdle and set up a second qualifying round clash against MSK Zilina, of Slovakia.

Last year, the Stripes came close to creating an upset in the Europa League when they were edged out by the more-fancied Slaven Belupo, of Croatia, 1-0 on aggregate.

Paul Zammit, the Birkirkara coach, has the same group of players that featured in the Euro Cup with defender Branko Nisevic and midfielder Rowen Muscat expected to make their first appearance this season after missing the season-opening competition last week.

Zammit recognised his team have a great opportunity of progressing to the first qualifying round but warned his players that they seriously risked jeopardising their chances if they underestimated their opponents today.

"It's a known fact that facing a team from Andorra gives us a better chance of making progress," Zammit told The Times yesterday.

"However, we should always give due respect to Santa Coloma and make sure that we take the field in the right frame of mind. We're playing away so they will be looking to build a healthy advantage for the second leg. We must be very cautious in our approach but we won't adopt a defensive game-plan.

"We have to take our chances and hit them on the break. Netting a goal is a primary target for away teams. That would put us in a strong position for next week's second leg."

From the little information he managed to gather, Zammit said Santa Coloma have a young squad that includes several Spanish players. This summer, he said, the Andorra champions made several changes so they still have to gauge their potential.

"Santa Coloma changed a lot of players from last season," Zammit said.

"What is certain is that they have several Spanish players in their squad so I'm sure that they will be technically very strong."

Meanwhile, the other Champions League preliminary round first leg tie this week, between San Marino's Tre Fiori and Montenegro's FK Rudar Pljevlja, will be controlled by Malta referee Alan Mario Sant.

This match, in Serravalle, will be played tomorrow evening.