Tottenham Hotspur may have made a late surge into sixth place in the Premier League last season, but that was not enough to avoid the inconvenience of the Europa League qualifying rounds.
Arsenal’s FA Cup win means Jose Mourinho’s side must travel to the far reaches of the continent just to make it to the competition’s group stages.
And their first opponents, after today’s draw for the second qualifying round, will be Bulgarian outfit Lokomotiv Plovdiv.
Here we take a more detailed look at what kind of challenge Tottenham will face next month.
History
Lokomotiv finished second in Bulgaria’s top flight last season, 12 points off title winners Ludogorets.
They have won the division only once – in 2003/04 – but a recent rise has seen them challenge regularly at the top and lift the Bulgarian Cup in both of the last two campaigns.
The club’s roots stretch back to 1926, though there have been several reorganisations and mergers throughout the decades since.
There have been a few appearances in European competition, too, though hardly enough to make them a household name.
Lokomotiv have never made it beyond the qualifying rounds of the Europa League, so they will hope to go one better this time around.
But they are faced with an extremely difficult task. Spurs, of course, will be overwhelming favourites to advance.
Stadium
Stadion Lokomotiv is the club’s modest home with a capacity of 13,220.
That is enough to generate a raucous atmosphere when full, though even the most ardent Lokomotiv fans will have no choice but to watch from home as behind closed doors games continue.
Route to the second round
The Smurfs – as they are nicknamed, in part due to their fervent ultras – edged past Montenegrin side Iskra in the first qualifying round.
Last season’s top scorer, Dimitar Iliev, got the winner from the penalty spot late in the second half.
Lokomotiv are also underway in the new domestic campaign, and have won three of their opening four league games.
Head coach
Bruno Akrapovic, who has been at the helm since 2017, is a popular figure amongst Lokomotiv fans. That is unsurprising given his record so far.
The 52-year-old, a former midfielder who played for the likes of Wolfsburg, Mainz, and Energie Cottbus, has guided the club to silverware and taken them back into Europe.
Akrapovic is proving himself as one of south-east Europe’s shrewdest tacticians, having coached in Croatia and Macedonia before his switch to Bulgaria.
Key players
As previously mentioned, experienced forward Iliev (Bulgarian Footballer of the Year in 2019) is the danger man. He got 19 goals in all competitions last season and is already off the mark in the new campaign.
Winger Bircent Karagaren and midfielder Parvizdzhon Umarbayev, meanwhile, are the primary creators behind Lokomotiv’s main man, with 11 assists between them in 2019/20.
