Sports

Athletic Club Bilbao, runners-up of the last season of the Europa League, will play the winner of the Slaven Belupo Koprivnica (Croatia) - Portadown (Northern Ireland) match-up in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

The team under Marcelo Bielsa will play the first leg on August 2nd at the San Mames stadium in Bilbao. The second leg will take place on the 9th. The winner will progress to the play-off draw on 10 August.

Croatia's Slaven Belupo Koprivnica defeated Portadown 6-0 in the first leg of the second qualifying round, so it seems likely that the Basques will play the Croatians on August 2nd in Bilbao.

Slaven Belupo Koprivnica took a place in the UEFA Cup qualifying for the first time in their history in 2007 by reaching the Croatian Cup final. They lost to Dinamo Zagreb in the final, 2-1 on aggregate, but qualified since Dinamo had already qualified for the Champions League.

In 2008, Slaven Belupo qualified for the UEFA Cup by beating Aris 2-0 at their home stadium, to reach an aggregate score of 2-1, thereby achieving arguably the best result in the history of the club.