Sutjeska against a team that played in the group stage of the Champions League last season

Sutjeska's return to the Champions League qualifiers after three seasons will begin against Kairat from faraway Almaty. The fact that the Kazakh club played in the group stage of UEFA's elite last season is a testament to how tough a rival they have been up against.

And what kind of rivals - Real Madrid, Arsenal, Inter... They only managed to win a point against Paphos, but they certainly come into the match with the Montenegrin champion with a lot of experience.

Kairat is in second place in the Kazanstan championship after 13 rounds, four points behind and a game in hand over the leader Ordabasy. The club from the largest city in Kazakhstan has been the national champion five times.

The team from Nikšić will start their fight in the UEFA elite from the first round of qualifying, and this summer they will appear in the Champions League qualifiers for the sixth time.

The first matches of the first round of Champions League qualifying are scheduled for July 7th and 8th, with the return matches on the 14th and 15th. Sutjeska will be the host in the second match.

Potential rivals for Sutjeska, who were disadvantaged in the draw, were Drit (Kosovo), Borac Banja Luka (BiH), Vikingur (Iceland), Craiova (Romania), KI Klaksvik (Faroe Islands) and Petrokub (Moldova). They were exclusively the champions of their respective countries.

The Nikšić club has only managed to overcome one of the obstacles in this competition once - it was in the 2019/20 season when they were overcome by Slovan Bratislava after a penalty shootout.

Last season, Sutjeska played in the Conference League qualifiers, beating Dinamo Brest in the first round, while losing to Beitar Jerusalem in the second.

Our representatives in the Conference League - Dečić, Mornar and Petrovac - will also find out their rivals in Europe today at 17 pm.