Final cut

A decisive weekend of action across the continent completed the list of Europa League Preliminary Round entrants and confirmed all of Cliftonville’s potential opponents.

As regular visitors to our dedicated guide will attest, six teams from four National Leagues — Andorra, Gibraltar, San Marino and Wales — will be in the mix to face the Reds when the draw takes place next month, with possible contests against representatives from Luxembourg and Kosovo ruled out by developments in the various domestic Cup Finals that have taken place in recent days.

On Friday night, Champions Feronikeli’s 5-1 victory over Trepça’89 in the Kosovar Cup decider earned a European place for Superleague runners-up Prishtina who, as a Seeded side, cannot be paired with Cliftonville.

The following day, Tre Penne secured the title in San Marino, meaning La Fiorita joined the Seeded pot for the opening phase of the Europa League, leaving Coppa Titano winners Tre Fiori as the only Sammarinese side bound for a potential trip to Solitude this summer.

Yesterday, meanwhile, Cup Finals in Andorra, Gibraltar and Luxembourg resolved all outstanding issues – including the Reds’ drop to third place in the Seeded list courtesy of Dudelange’s 5-0 defeat of Etzella Ettelbruck, which in turn booked Progres Niederkorn’s berth as the last Luxembourgish entrant.

All of which meant that just two spaces remained in the Unseeded section, one of which was claimed by St Joseph’s after the already-qualified Europa FC comfortably overcame Gibraltar United in the Rock Cup Final.

A shock in Andorra, meanwhile, saw little-fancied Engordany beat Champions Santa Coloma 2-0 in their domestic Cup decider to join fellow countrymen Sant Julia in the hat for the draw, which will take place in just over a fortnight – and cliftonvillefc.net will continue to present the web’s most detailed guide to the Preliminary Round right here.

Seeded teams
Cliftonville
Europa FC (Gibraltar)
KI Klaksvik (Faroe Islands)
NSI Runavik (Faroe Islands)
La Fiorita (San Marino)
Prishtina (Kosovo)
Progres Niederkorn (Luxembourg)

Unseeded teams
Ballymena United
Barry Town United (Wales)
Cardiff Metropolitan University (Wales)
Engodarny (Andorra)
Sant Julia (Andorra)
St Joseph’s (Gibraltar)
Tre Fiori (San Marino)