Europa League: Turkey's Malatyaspor to face FK Partizan

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Turkey's Yeni Malatyaspor will face Serbia's FK Partizan in UEFA Europa League 3rd qualifying round first leg on Thursday.

The match at the Partizan Stadium in Serbia's capital Belgrade will kick off at 22:00 local time (19.00 GMT) and will be refereed by Russia's Sergei Ivanov.

Manager of Yeni Malatyaspor, Sergen Yalcin, said that they want to return to Malatya with an advantageous score.

Yalcin said both teams have equal chances of reaching the next round in the Europa League.

"Partizan is a good team. They play with discipline. Their defense mentality is good. They are a strong team that can move together. Our advantage is that we have more skillful players. Compared to them, we have more effective and faster players. This seems like an advantage for us as we play the first game here in Belgrade," said Yalcin.

Meanwhile, the manager of FK Partizan, Savo Milosevic, told a press conference that the game against Yeni Malatyaspor plays a vital role.

"The match we will play against Yeni Malatyaspor is vital. Even it is the most important encounter we have until December. We have worked even on the smallest details that would keep us ahead. Yeni Malatyaspor have very good football players,'' he said.

The second leg will be played in Turkey's eastern province of Malatya on Aug 15.

The winning team will face the winners of Molde vs Aris game in the next round.

Yeni Malatyaspor eliminated Slovenia's Olimpija Ljubljana 3-2 on aggregate in the Europa League 2nd qualifying round.

Yeni Malatyaspor are competing in the UEFA Europa League for the first time in their history.

Meanwhile, FK Partizan knocked Wales club Connah's Quay Nomads F.C. out from the tournament in the 2nd qualifying round.