On Tuesday, Lithuanian side Panevezys will face Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv in their Europa League third-round qualifying tie.
The first leg tie will take place at the LFF Stadium in Vilnius rather than Panevezys' usual home ground of the Aukstaitija Stadium.
Match preview
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Panevezys are competing in the preliminary stages of the Europa League for the first time since 2022-23 after their maiden Champions League campaign ended in the second qualifying round.
Stijn Vreven's side claimed a 4-1 aggregate victory over HJK in the first qualifying round, before they were comfortably beaten in their recent Champions League tie against Jagiellonia Bialystok.
They slumped to a heavy 4-0 defeat in the home leg, before they fell to a 3-1 loss in last Wednesday's clash in Poland which sealed their demotion to Europa League qualifying.
While they will be disappointed to drop down to the Europa League, Panevezys will be aware that they are just two ties away from creating history by making their first appearance in the main draw of a European competition.
However, that may be easier said than done because Panevezys are winless in five competitive matches and far from the side that won the A Lyga last season, with the reigning champions currently languishing at the foot of the Lithuanian top flight.
Meanwhile, Maccabi Tel Aviv began their 2024-25 campaign in promising fashion, beating Maccabi Petah Tikva 2-0 to win last month's Israel Super Cup.
However, they were unable to build upon their Super Cup success in their recent Champions League qualifying tie against FCSB, drawing 1-1 in Romania before falling to a narrow 1-0 defeat in the second leg following a 90th-minute effort from William Baeten.
As a result, Maccabi will continue their nine-year wait for a Champions League main draw appearance as they now turn their focus to Europa League qualifying.
The Israeli champions are still hoping to appear in the main draw of a UEFA competition for the second season in a row after reaching the last 16 in the 2023-24 Europa Conference League.
Maccabi will fancy their chances of claiming a positive result on Tuesday, having avoided defeat in each of their last four away matches in European competition.
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Team News
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The Lithuanian side are expected to be without the services of goalkeeper Tomas Svedkauskas and Ariagner Smith.
Federico Palacios-Martinez could be brought into the starting lineup after dropping down to the bench for the second leg against Jagiellonia.
Norwegian forward Sivert Gussias is also pushing for a starting spot following his late consolation in last Wednesday's outing.
As for Maccabi, Roy Revivo, Ido Shahar, Osher Davida, Dor Turgeman and Elad Madmon could be available following Israel's group-stage exit from the Olympics.
The visitors are likely to line up with Raz Shlomo and Tyrese Asante as the two centre defenders, while Idan Nachmias and Revivo.
Experienced forward Eran Zahavi will continue to lead the line, with the 37-year looking to reproduce the sort of form that saw him score 13 goals in 14 European appearances last term.
Panevezys possible starting lineup:
Cerniauskas; Rasimavicius, Dubra, Klimavicius, Mazan; Cadjenovic, Gorobsov; Veliulis, Palacios-Martinez, De Vega; Gussias
Maccabi Tel Aviv possible starting lineup:
Mishipati; Nachmias, Shlomo, Asante, Revivo; Peretz, Van Overeem, Kanichowsky; Biton, Addo, Zahavi
We say: Panevezys 1-2 Maccabi Tel Aviv
Panevezys are experiencing a difficult campaign, and we think that their struggles could continue on Tuesday, especially as they have lost their last two competitive home matches.
We ultimately believe that Maccabi Tel Aviv will have the extra quality required to record a narrow victory in the first leg.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
