Valletta and Balzan, the two remaining Maltese teams in this season’s UEFA Europa League second qualifying round, might very well end up making history and going all the way to this September’s competition stage.

The UEFA Europa League has three qualifying rounds, and victory in tonight’s two matches will see Valletta and Balzan progress to the third and final qualifying round before the actual competition kicks off on the 20th of September.

Maltese champions Valletta moved into the Europa League after a late goal conceded against Albanian team Kukesi saw them being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League. Taking the Champions path, they’ve managed to hold their own against Bosnian champions Zrinjski Mostar with a 1-1 Away draw which might prove to be crucial.

Ahead of tonight’s home match kick off in Ta’ Qali, Valletta coach Danilo Doncic has urged his team – and their thousands of supporters – to help the Maltese champions on through the next stage. “We showed our strength on the European stage,” the Serbian coach told TakeASeat in an interview. “After three very difficult matches, we are still unbeaten and showed that we can compete against stronger teams in Europe.”

Meanwhile, taking the Main Path, Premier League runners-up Balzan have been blazing through the competition, beating any and all odds stacked up against them.

Winning over Azeri team Keshla 5-3 by aggregate in the first qualifying round of the Europa League, the Maltese team continued off from their historic achievement by overcoming the tough test that was last week’s match against Slovakia’s Slovan Bratislava.

Following that impressive 2-1 win, Balzan are hoping to bring more Maltese excellence tonight, this time away from home. As Balzan’s coach Marko Micovic told MFA.com.mt, tonight is all about that crucial away goal. “We need to stay focused, raise our performance level and avoid stupid mistakes to give ourselves a chance of saying in contention,” Micovic said.

If Valletta make it through to the third qualifying round, their final hurdle before officially entering the Europa League’s competition stages is a two-leg match against Bulgaria’s Ludogrets today week.

Balzan, on the other hand, would face Austrian side Rapid Wien, also on Thursday 9th August.

In recent years, Maltese teams have been getting ever close to making it to the first round proper of the UEFA Europa League. In the 2009-2010 season, Valletta made local history, becoming the first Maltese team to ever make it through to the second qualifying round of the Europa League.

Here’s hoping that, tonight, in both Ta’ Qali and Bratislava, history is made thanks to Valletta and Balzan.

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David Grech Urpani

Lovin Malta's Head of Content, Dave has been in journalism for the better half of the last decade. Prefers Instagram, but has been known to doomscroll on TikTok. Loves chicken, women's clothes and Kanye West (most of the time).