The opening draws of the 2010/11 UEFA club competition season take place in Nyon, Switzerland, this afternoon.

The pairings for the first and second qualifying rounds of the Champions League and Europa League will be established during ceremonies to be staged at UEFA's Nyon headquarters.

Three Maltese clubs, Birkirkara, Valletta and Sliema Wanderers, will know their Euro opponents after today's draws. Unseeded Birkirkara can come up against Andorran outfit FC Santa Coloma or San Marino's Tre Fiori in the first qualifying round of the Champions League (first leg - June 29/30; second leg - July 6/7).

Valletta, winners of the FA Trophy and runners-up to Birkirkara in the BOV Premier League last season, and Sliema Wanderers are among the teams in the draws for the first and second qualifying rounds of the Europa League.

Sliema will play in the first qualifying round (first leg - July 1; second leg - July 8) while Valletta enter the fray in the second qualifying round (first leg - July 15; second leg - July 22).

For the first qualifying round of the Europa League equal numbers of seeded and unseeded teams have been allocated to five groups in accordance with rankings established at the beginning of the season - four of 10 teams and one of 12.

The 80 teams involved in the second qualifying round are divided into eight groups of 10, each containing five seeded and five unseeded teams. The draw follows the same procedure as the first qualifying round.

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