Braga handed Serbian opposition in Champions League draw; Arouca face Norwegian outfit SK Brann in Conference League | OneFootball

Sporting Clube de Braga have been drawn against Serbian outfit Backa Topola in the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

The Guerreiros will play the home leg first on 8 or 9 August before travelling to Serbia for the second leg on 15 August.

Arouca will face Norwegian opposition at the same qualifying stage in the Conference League.

“We’re talking about Champions League qualifying so there are no easy teams,” said Braga coach Artur Jorge, reacting to the draw. “This team finished runners-up in the Serbian league, which is traditionally very strong in terms of physicality and intensity.

“We’ll analyse our opponents in depth to help us achieve our aim of getting into the Champions League group stage.”

Backa Topola may be an unfamiliar name to European football fans but it is a historical club that was founded way back in 1912.

The team were promoted back to Serbia’s top flight in 2020, finishing fourth then second in the last  two seasons. The club’s most famous product is Ajax star Dusan Tadic, who was born in Backa Topola and learned his trade at his hometown side until he was 14 years old.

Should Braga pass their Serbian test, they will be a play-off tie away from making it back into the Champions League proper.

The Arsenalistas have twice played in the Champions League group stage, in 2010/11 and 2012/13.

In their first participation they won three matches – including a famous 2-0 victory over Arsenal – but finished third in the section and dropped into the Europa League, where they would make it all the way to final, losing 1-0 to Portuguese neighbours FC Porto in Dublin.

Back in Europe for only the second time in their history, Arouca were drawn against SK Brann of Norway in the third qualifying round of the Conference League.

Like Braga, Arouca will play the home leg first, on 10 August, with the second leg scheduled for 17 August.

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