Hibernians and Birkirkara have a common target ahead of their Europa League first qualifying round first legs against Slovakia’s Spartak Trnava and NK Siroki Brijeg, of Bosnia, this evening.

Both Maltese teams will be chasing a positive result in away matches to keep the qualification issue open ahead of the second legs next week when Hibernians and Birkirkara will have home advantage.

Spartak Trnava, who finished fourth in their domestic championship last season, don’t evoke happy memories for Hibs as, only two years ago, the Slovak side inflicted a 9-2 aggregate drubbing on the Paolites at the same stage of the same competition.

No doubt, the Hibs players who were part of the team that went down so heavily to Spartak in 2014 will be motivated to make amends in what will be coach Mark Miller’s first competitive match in charge since returning to Hibernians a few weeks ago.

Hibs defender Andrei Agius is under no illusion about the size of the task awaiting his team this evening at the Antona Malatin-skeho Stadium.

“Our objective is to try and obtain a result that keeps the tie alive ahead of the second leg,” Agius told Times of Malta.

“It will be a difficult match but the difference from two years ago is that we have strengthened our ranks whereas Spartak are not the same team.”

Miller has three new faces in his squad – Malta goalkeeper Andrew Hogg and Brazilian forwards Renan Telles Pimenta and Juan Manuel Varea.

The English coach has to make do without long-term absentee Equatorial Guinea defender Rui Da Gracia Gomes while Brazilian striker Jorginho has not travelled with the team as he is in the final stages of his recovery from injury.

In Bosnia, Birkirkara coach Drazen Besek prepares his team for their encounter at the Pecara Stadium. NK Siroki Brijeg qualified for the Europa League after finishing third in the national championship last season.

Reinforcements

Birkirkara have added four new players to Besek’s squad – experienced midfielder Shaun Bajada, young goalkeeper Andreas Vella and Serbian duo Predrag Jovic and Srdjan Dimitrov.

Versatile midfielder Emerson Marcelina has rejoined the Stripes after spending the second half of last season at Floriana.

Croatian trio Goran Mujanovic, Mislav Andelkovic and striker Matija Smrekar, along with Argentine defender Mauricio Mazzetti are no longer part of the Birkirkara squad while winger Frank Temile has yet to report for training this summer as complications to his visa application have delayed his departure from Nigeria.

Temile is expected to arrive in Malta later this week.

Meanwhile, seven Birkirkara players can count themselves lucky to have completed their trip to Bosnia safely after a stopover in Istanbul just hours before terrorist attacks at the city’s main airport on Tuesday.

Adrian Delia, the Birkirkara FC president, confirmed to Times of Malta that a small group of Birkir-kara players and technical staff narrowly avoided the suicide bombings as their connecting flight to Bosnia departed from Istanbul not long before the terrorists struck, killing 41 people and wounding at least 230 others.

The bulk of the Birkirkara squad travelled to Bosnia on Monday.

Europa League

First qualifying round (today’s first legs)
Balzan (Malta) vs Neftchi PFK (Azerbaijan) - 18.00
NK Siroki Brijeg (Bosnia) vs Birkirkara (Malta) - 19.00
Spartak Trnava (Slovakia) vs Hibernians (Malta) - 20.15

Second qualifying round pairings
Balzan/Neftchi PFK vs Shkendija (Macedonia)/MKS Krakow (Poland)
Dila Gori (Georgia)/FC Shirak (Armenia) vs Spartak Trnava/Hibernians
NK Siroki Brijeg/Birkirkara vs FC Infonet (Estonia)/Hearts (Scotland)