Mornar in Andorra, Petrovac in Lithuania, Dečić against Petković's Lijepaja

Three Montenegrin teams in the Conference League qualifiers have learned the names of their rivals in the first round.

Runner-up and Cup winner Mornar will play against Atlético Escaldes from Andorra. This will be Barani's second appearance in Europe. Two years ago, also in the Conference League qualifiers, they reached the third round. They were eliminated by Dinamo Tbilisi and Radnički Kragujevac, and were stopped by Hungarian side Paks.

The team from the Pyrenees has already played against the Montenegrin club once. Three years ago, in the preliminary round of the qualifiers, Buducnost easily defeated Atlético Escaldes in Iceland (3:0). The two-time scorer for the "blue and whites" was Balša Sekulić, who dominated in the Mornar jersey last season and was the top scorer in the 1. CFL with 15 goals.

Atletic have progressed since then, and last summer they advanced past Dudelange from Luxembourg at the start of the LK qualifiers, only to be eliminated in the second round by Dinamo Tirana.

Petrovac will face Lithuanian Žalgiris Vilnius in their second appearance on the European stage. 17 years ago, the "sky blues" eliminated Cypriot Anorthosis in the Europa League qualifiers, only to face Sturm Graz in the third round.

The Lithuanian club's advantage may be the fact that their championship is well underway. After 16 rounds played, they share 3rd place in the standings with their namesake from Kaunas.

Last year they were knocked out by Hamrun of Malta in the first round of Champions League qualifying. They were then eliminated by Linfield of Northern Ireland in the Conference League qualifiers.

In the 2022/23 season, Žalgiris played in the group stage of the Conference League, where its rivals were Slovan, Basel and Pyunik. The Vilnius club took last place in Group H with five points.

Dečić is also going to the Baltics - he will face a double-header against the Latvian team Lijepaja, which is represented by Montenegrin national team player Danijel Petković.

This is the fifth time the club from "Besa Arena" has been in UEFA competitions, and in the previous two seasons it has stayed in three (2024) and two rounds (2025). The problem for Ivan Brnović's team could be the competitive rhythm of the Latvians. Liepaja is fourth in Virsliga after 18 rounds, but far from the top - it is 21 points behind the leading RFS.

They didn't play on the European stage last summer, and two years ago they were immediately eliminated by Vikingur from the Faroe Islands.

The final schedule of Montenegrin clubs' matches in the Conference League qualifiers will be announced in the coming days. The first matches will be played on July 9th, with the return matches seven days later.

This summer alone, Montenegro will have three representatives in the Conference League qualifiers, and from 2027, due to the low coefficient, that number will be one team lower.