Swansea City’s Wilfried Bony (right) holds off Valencia’s Ever Banega during their Europa League match last month.

Swansea City, 11-time winners of the Welsh Cup, made their debut in Europe via the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1961. This year they are competing in the Europa League for the first time in their history.

The Swans, in their third consecutive year in the English Premier League, are managed by Michael Laudrup. The Dane received the accolades last season after steering Swansea to their first English domestic honour, the League Cup, defeating Bradford City 5-0 in the final at Wembley Stadium.

To reach the group phase of the Europa League, Swansea beat Malmo, of Sweden, in the third qualifying round − home 4-0, away 0-0.

They were also involved in a play-off against Romanian side Petrolul − home 5-1, away 1-2.

Swansea’s history on the continent:

Cup Winners’ Cup

1961-62 preliminary round − Motor Jena (East Germany) home 2-2; away (in Linz) 1-5.

1966-67 first round − Slavia Sofia (Bulgaria) home 1-1; away 0-4.

1981-82 first round − Lokomotiv Leipzig (East Germany) home 0-1; away 1-2.

1982-83 preliminary round − Braga (Portugal) home 3-0; away 0-1.

First round − Sliema Wanderers (home) 12-0; (away) 5-0.

Second round − Paris St Germain (France) home 0-1; away 0-2.

1983-84 preliminary round − Magdeburg (East Germany) home 1-1; away 0-1.

1989-90 first round − Panathinaikos (Greece) away 2-3; home 3-3.

1991-92 first round − Monaco (France) home 1-2; away 0-8.

In their opening Group A match last month, Swansea stunned Spanish side Valencia 3-0 at the Mestalla.

It was a memorable night for the Swans as Laudrup returned to the country where he is revered for his successes as a player at Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The other two teams from England in the Europa League this year are Tottenham Hotspur and Wigan Athletic.

Jermain Defoe’s double gave the Spurs a winning start to their European campaign as they beat Tromso 3-0.

Wigan emerged from their first ever European match with a point after battling out a scoreless stalemate with Zulte Waregem in Belgium.

This evening, Swansea play Switzerland’s St Gallen at the Liberty Stadium.

These two teams have never met before and St Gallen’s only connection with an English club in Europe dates back to 2000-01. On that occasion they held the upperhand in the first round of the UEFA Cup, defeating Chelsea 2-1 on aggregate.

Wigan face NK Maribor in Group D tonight.

Maribor are the most successful club in Slovenia, having won 11 league titles and eight domestic cup competitions.

Last season, in a Europa League group match, Maribor held Tottenham to a 1-1 draw at home but lost the return 1-3 to earn one point from the tie.

Andre Villas-Boas will deploy a changed side in Europe as Tottenham play Anzhi Makhachkala in a Group K clash at the Anzhi-Arena this evening.

Spurs have never met Anzhi before but the Russians played Liverpool in Europe last year. The two teams shared the spoils following 1-0 wins at their respective home tie in the group stage.

In the last 16, Anzhi were then paired with Newcastle United who ousted the Russians from the tournament 1-0 on aggregate.