Ħamrun Spartans face NSI Runavik, of Faroe Islands as Marsaxlokk head to Armenia to face Pyunik

Ħamrun Spartans and Marsaxlokk were handed tricky ties in the UEFA Conference League when they were drawn to face KSI Runavik, of Faroe Islands, and Armenia’s FC Pyunik, respectively.

The Spartans, who qualified for the UEFA Conference League after placing third in the Malta Premier League, are looking to emulate last year’s feat of reaching the League Phase of the UEFA club competition.

Ħamrun were boosted by the fact that they were one of the seeded sides in their group and they were drawn to face the Faroes’ side NSI Runavik, with the first match likely to be held in the Nordic country.

Runavik are midway through their league season and are currently enjoying a very strong campaign as they are currently sharing top spot with Klaksvik on 29 points after 13 matches.

However, Runavik do not boast a strong record in Europe as in their last two participations in the competition, they failed to move past the first qualifying round.

In 2021, they were knocked out by Finnish side Honka 3-1 on aggregate while last summer, Runavik were ousted by another team from Finland, HJK, who came back from a 4-0 first-leg defeat to win the return leg 5-0 after extra-time and proceed 5-4 on aggregate.

Marsaxlokk have a long trip awaiting them when they head to the former Russian Republic of Armenia to face Pyunik.

 Pyunik are the most successful team in the country and became the first Armenian team to reach the group stages of a UEFA club competition when they reached the League Phase of the Conference League in 2022.

In 2024, they reached the Play-off Round of the Conference League but were knocked out by Slovenian side Celje, while last season they bowed out in the second qualifying round, when they were beaten by Hungary’s Gyori ETO.